


Willow River: Day Three

by istie, Lostboys143, planetlostinspace, ricky_goldsworth, sessrumnir, shareyoursunshines, WitchBoyWriter



Series: Willow River [3]
Category: Buzzfeed The Try Guys (Web Series), Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series)
Genre: Adoptive family, Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Buzzfeed Unsolved Cinematic Universe - Freeform, Collaborative fic, Fluff, Gen, Implied Relationships, Monster of the Week, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-05-24 06:17:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14949182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/istie/pseuds/istie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lostboys143/pseuds/Lostboys143, https://archiveofourown.org/users/planetlostinspace/pseuds/planetlostinspace, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ricky_goldsworth/pseuds/ricky_goldsworth, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sessrumnir/pseuds/sessrumnir, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shareyoursunshines/pseuds/shareyoursunshines, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchBoyWriter/pseuds/WitchBoyWriter
Summary: Our intrepid group of adventurers finally all meet and begin to delve into the mysteries of Willow River.  They engineer and execute a corpse heist, fight an archghoul, and eatincredibly tastyfried chicken.





	1. Morning

**Author's Note:**

> You definitely want to read this series in order! Read Willow River: Day One and Day Two before diving into this instalment.
> 
> \---
> 
> Since March of 2018, myself and six friends have been playing an online Monster of the Week campaign, with myself as Keeper (or dungeon master, if you prefer). It has evolved into two months of intense emotional journey, and we're having so much fun that we thought we should share it with you.
> 
> Basic credits: story and narration by me, characters' backstories and actions by their respective players...
> 
> The main cast is, in alphabetical order by last name:  
> Owen Atwin, played by @WitchBoyWriter;  
> Chen Xiaolian, played by @Lostboys143;  
> James Finn, played by @planetlostinspace;  
> Mikaere Jones, played by @ghoul_ish;  
> Roan Morris, played by @girlwiththebooks;  
> Cassandra Wojtek, played by @sessrumnir;  
> something like two dozen NPCs, played by @istie,  
> and the narrator, also played by @istie.
> 
> I have edited our transcripts down into novel format: most times a character is speaking or acting, they are being played by their player - only in montages or scene descriptions do I, as Keeper, have control. I have also edited out our rolls, as Monster of the Week is a dice-based game: you only see the narrative results.
> 
> We hope you enjoy reading as much as we have enjoyed playing so far!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hover over italicised foreign language text for translations! (Mobile and tablet users, please see the ending notes.) These are not written by native speakers by any means, please forgive the inevitable terrible errors if you are a speaker!

Saturday morning dawns, clear skies, a few degrees above zero.  Xiaolian wakes up around five AM, blinking away the sleep while letting her eyes adjust to the light coming from her window. At first, she feels like it’s just a normal morning. Then the events of last night rush back into her head, and she turns over and screams into her pillow.  After about five minutes of that, she gets over her initial embarrassment and is instead filled with guilt. “I can’t believe I made him deal with my dumb ass. He probably hates me now.”

She sits there, wallowing in her self-pity before she bolts up right in her bed. “I’m going to bake him so many sweets, he’ll have no choice but to love me again.” She gets up out of bed with a newfound determination, and gets herself ready for a hard morning of baking. Thank God for her double ovens.

After she finishes getting dressed and freshened up, she heads into her kitchen. She loves the kitchen at home almost as much as she loves the kitchen at the cafe. She grabs one of the four aprons that are hanging on the wall. It has her name embroidered on it and has multiple stains. “Okay, so, what can I make? Obviously I should do Bigfoot footprints. Oh! I’ll make the dàn tǎ. And maybe some UFO cake pops? Do I have the fondant for that? I think it still have some leftover from my last baking session. Maybe a batch of cookies? Can’t go wrong with good ol’ chocolate chip. And I’ll use browned butter…” She pulls out all the necessary baking tools and ingredients. It’s a lot.

* * *

As the sun rises, the town is quiet for the first few hours, before small signs of life start to appear. Sometime around 9, Roan Morris decides they want some pancakes. Or the breakfast food of their choice.  Roan makes their way towards M&D, clutching their bomber jacket closer to their body, cursing the fact that they never check the weather. The town is still fairly quiet, but Roan can feel something in the air. They know that something is coming – they’re just not sure what. Pushing open the door to the cafe, they look forward to the French toast they are gonna order.

…Except the door doesn’t open, and they kinda run into it.

Roan feels their forehead make contact with the door. “What the fuck?” One hand comes up to rub their head while the other pushes at the door again. “Well shit.” Roan pauses, looking around, unsure of where else to go. They spot the bookstore further down the street and stride towards it. They pause at the door and tentatively poke at it, not wanting another injury.

It is also locked tight. The lights are off, too, just like the lights at M&D.

James walks along Main Street, intending to spend some more time at Alshaytania to see the hot owner—ah, to do some more research on the surrounding area. As he approaches, he sees someone pushing against the door. “Hey,” he walks closer to them, “is it locked?”

“No, I’m just standing here for the hell of it.” Roan winces as the words leave their mouth, turning to look at the man. “Sorry, that was rude. I’ve not eaten cause the cafe is shut too. Any idea what’s going on?”

“Nah, it’s understandable. I don’t have a clue. I only got in town recently. Oh, uh, I’m James.  I don’t have any delicious cookies, but I’ve got a granola bar?” James reaches into his pocket and pulls out the bar.

Roan eyes the man. He was either naive or a weirdo to think they’d take food from a strange guy on the street. “No, thanks. I have allergies.” They pause, contemplating whether they could take the guy if things got weird. “I’m Roan. Know anywhere else in town we can go to find out what’s happening?”

Interestingly, according to the sign by the door, the bookstore _should_ be open.

James shrugs and puts the granola bar back in his pocket. “Well, there’s an information centre… I actually don’t know if they will have any info on this, but it can’t hurt to try.” James turns to leave. “Do you wanna come with or keep manning the door?”

Roan huffs out a laugh, shoving their hands in their pockets. “I’ll come with you. If I stand here I’ll probably freeze to the spot.” They step forward, frantically trying to remember how to hold a conversation. “So, uh, what are you doing in town?”

James quickly eyes Roan over. He shrugs one shoulder. “Heard about some of the alien stories. Thought it would be a fun place to stop at for a bit to round off my Canada trip.”

Roan smiles at him. Dude seems to have an adorable thing for shrugging a lot. “Yeah I’m here for the aliens too. Took a year out of college to…deal with some things. Also, where exactly is the information centre?”

James smiles at Roan. “It’s just down the road. Shouldn’t take more than a few more minutes.”

* * *

Owen wakes up in his comfortable bed, cuddled up under a mountain of blankets, hugging his pillow. He stretches, sitting up and pushing his hair out of his face.

It’s a quiet morning. Not that there’s any other kind in Willow River. But yesterday, even up on the top floor, Owen could hear the sounds of the kitchen. Today they are silent.

Owen heads downstairs, looking for Adam or Andrew. “…Adam?”

The building is empty, dark, and quiet. Steven’s office is down the hall.

Owen starts to get nervous, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Steven?” he calls, going to the office.

Steven is sitting at his desk, going through papers, as usual. He looks up as he hears Owen’s voice. “Oh, good morning Owen,” he says with a smile. “Sleep okay?”

Owen can feel relief wash over him when he sees Steven. He hadn’t had the opportunity to bond with Steven as much, but he still trusts him.”… Where’s Adam and Andrew?” He asks, lingering in the doorway.

“They had to go out last night,” Steven says, glancing at the window. “They aren’t back yet.”

“Oh.” He pauses for a moment. “…Do you know when they will be?”

“They should be back soon; they went hunting.” He looks over at Owen again. “If you’re looking for something to do…” He pauses, thinking. “I think the community hall has a small library? I’d say try the bookstore, but Shane went out with them too last night…” He frowns. “What do you like to do for fun?”

Owen thinks about it for a minute, then shrugs. “I don’t… know,” he says.

“Right,” Steven says, “I guess that’s not really a thing you’ve done much. Um…tell you what. Let’s go down to the community hall together, see who’s there. At the very least, maybe we can watch a movie or something.”

Owen nods. “Okay,” he says. “Right now…?”

Steven shrugs. “We can go now, we can go later, it doesn’t matter. It’s Saturday, man! Our time is our own!” He kicks back, puts his hands behind his head, and catches sight of the papers on his desk. “Though paperwork never goes away.” He chuckles. “Whatever you wanna do, I’m chill with. We could go shoot some hoops, watch a movie, make a cake…or if you wanna chill on your lonesome, go right ahead. House is all yours as long as you clean up after yourself.”

“I don’t know how to do… most of those things.” He actually comes into the office, taking a seat.

Steven rolls his chair forward a little and puts his elbows on the table. “Well, okay, let’s see. What sounds enjoyable? Playing a game, enjoying a story, or making something tasty to eat?”

Owen shrugs, playing with the hem of his shirt again. “I don’t know, a game, maybe?”

“Cool!” Steven stands up. “Let’s go down to the park and I’ll teach you how to shoot hoops.”

Owen stands back up, grabbing onto Steven’s sleeve. “Okay.”

* * *

Later that day, shortly before noon, Xiaolian lets out a huge breath when she finally packs the last cookie into the Tupperware.  “I should head over now, so that he can eat some of this while it’s still warm.” She looks at all the stuff she has to carry. “…I’m gonna need a bag.”

A few minutes later, she walks up to the front door of the bookstore, bags over her arms. The lights in the store are off.

“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!” She gives a little huff, and stands there, unsure of what to do next.  It’s strange. It should be open. Midday on a Saturday? Everyone’s either at M&D or Alshaytania.  “Shane? Mickey? Anyone in there?” She waits for a response. “I mean, I could drop these off at Shane’s house…but I’d rather not.”

It is entirely silent.  She looks out towards the street, hoping Shane will pop up out of nowhere so she can give him these stupid treats. And the note in her pocket. She really hopes he won’t notice the tear stains on the paper.

Xiaolian hears footsteps crunching along the road, from the direction of the cafe.  She turns to look, hoping that she’ll see obnoxiously long legs, but she sees Steven, and the new shy boy. Steven is dribbling a basketball as they walk. They’ll be heading to Ryan’s, then, where the recent arrival to the town has set up a makeshift court in his driveway. 

“Steven!” She bounces a little to get his attention while waving her hand in the air.

Owen looks up when he sees her, his grip on Steven’s arm tightening slightly. He was still kind of scared of her.

Xiaolian pretends that she doesn’t see the new boy.

Steven notices Xiaolian and tucks the ball under his arm, waving. “Hey Xiaolian!” he says, coming up to her. “What’s in the bags?”

Xiaolian doesn’t know a good excuse. “About 40 pounds of baked goods.”

Steven blinks. “Um. Why?”

“I… kinda made a mess of things with Shane last night, so I made ‘please forgive me’ goodies.” She looks at the ground. “Is that weird?”

He tilts his head. “You saw…?” His phone buzzes, interrupting his thought, and he pulls it out of his pocket. “Oh, uh, hang on…” He looks at the message. “Shoot.” He looks up at Xiaolian, then over at Owen nervously. “Xiaolian, could you do me a favour?”

“Yes.” Xiaolian would never say no to Steven.

He smiles, but it’s tinged with worry. “I … have to go. Could you please keep Owen company for a bit while I take care of this? I should be back … soon. Um.” He looks away, down the street, nervously. “We were gonna go shoot some hoops, if you wanna do that?”

Xiaolian is a liar. “No. I’m not taking care of him.”

He frowns, surprised. “I’m not asking you to take care of him… I’m just asking you to keep him company. I _have_ to go.”

Xiaolian groans. “Fuck. Fine. Just go.”

Owen shoots Steven a worried expression, wordlessly begging him to _not_ go.

Steven bites his lip, then hands Owen the ball. “I’m sorry, Owen – I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Steven glances at his phone again, frowns deeper, and takes off running down the street back towards the bed and breakfast.

Xiaolian glances at Owen. “Do you still want to go to the court?”

He doesn’t make eye contact with her. “You don’t have to take care of me,” he says.

Xiaolian snickers. “You’re right, I don’t. You have Adam, Andrew, and Steven all taking care of you like you’re a damn baby.” Xiaolian shakes her head. “Whatever, just follow me.” She turns to head in the direction of Ryan’s.

Owen bites his lip, hugging himself. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles. He has absolutely no idea what he did to make this girl dislike him.

Xiaolian doesn’t respond, she just keeps walking. She knows if she opens her mouth, she’ll just say something even more mean and she’s already let people down this week.

Owen just follows her. After a moment, he speaks up. “… Why don’t you like me?” he asks.

Xiaolian doesn’t respond for a moment. She wraps her arms around herself. “…I don’t like people who turn others away before giving them a chance.”

Owen gives her a confused look. “I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.”

Xiaolian just shakes her head. “ _I_ don’t even know why I bothered to try with you. Let’s just both agree that we don’t like each other.”

Owen sighs. “But I don’t. You just don’t like me and I don’t know _why._ I don’t know what I did.”

Xiaolian stops walking and looks at him. Her fingers twitch at her side. She really wishes Bolin was here. Or Zhiqiang. “Do you not remember when we first met?”

“Yeah…?” Owen thinks back to the cafe. “Did I do something…?” He looks genuinely distressed. “I didn’t mean to, I swear.”  Xiaolian just stares at him.  They stand in silence for a moment, before Owen speaks up again. “I really have no idea what I did to you,” he says softly.

“…What do you think about Adam?” she asks, slowly.

Owen shrugs. “I like Adam… He makes me feel safe,” he says softly.

“And Andrew?”

“I like him too…? Them and Steven have all been really nice to me and helped me. It’s really nice.”

Xiaolian nods. “Okay. I have one last question.”

Owen nods. “Okay,” he says, waiting for her to ask.

“How do you feel about doing a start over?”

Owen gives her a soft relieved smile. “Me and you?” he asks, hopefully. “That sounds good.”

“I have an idea. Just, just stand here and give me like, a minute.”

“Okay…?”

“And don’t turn around!” Xiaolian runs off in the direction that Owen isn’t looking.

Owen just stands there, fidgeting awkwardly with the hem of his borrowed shirt.

Xiaolian stops when she’s a good twenty feet behind him. She takes moment to take a deep breath. Then turning back to Owen, she slowly makes her way up behind him, then gently taps his shoulder to get him to turn around.

He turns to her.

She gives him a bright smile and a small wave. “Hi, my name is Xiaolian. I haven’t seen you around before, are you new here?”

He takes a second to process what exactly she’s doing, before he smiles softly. “Yeah, I’m new. I’m Owen.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Owen.” Slowly she extends her hand towards him, palm facing upwards.

He looks down at her hand. “I don’t know what you want me to do with that,” he admits.

Xiaolian blinks. And then she starts laughing.

Owen looks at her, confused. “What?”

She struggles to catch her breath. “God, you’re so cute.” She straightens up. “It’s called a handshake, it’s something you do when you want to greet someone for the first time.”

“So… What am I supposed to _do_?” he asks, blushing.

“Is it okay if I grab your hand?”

He nods. “Yeah. That’s okay.”

She grabs the hand opposite of his and gently places it on hers. She moves his fingers so that they’re in the right spot. His hands were actually…really nice to hold. “Okay so this like Saying Hello 101. So when someone holds their hand out like I did, you grab it like this. And then you shake.” She gently shakes his hand. “Got it?”

He nods. “Okay, yeah, got it.”

Xiaolian lets go. “Well, now that we’re basically best friends for life, do you actually want to play basketball? Or we can some something more lowkey.”

“…I don’t actually know how to play basketball, so I don’t really care, I guess.” He shrugs.

“Well, that makes two of us. Come on, we can head to my house and watch a movie or something.” Without really thinking about it, she holds her hand out for him to grab.

He takes it immediately, letting her lead the way.

Xiaolian holds on tight and immediately begins to pull him to her house, ranting on and on about which movie they should watch. “And I can totally make popcorn, or like anything else if you want something to eat?”

“Uh, no, that’s okay.” Owen says. Just because _some_ of the town people were cool with him literally living off human flesh didn’t mean everyone would be, and he wasn’t about to just tell her about it.

Xiaolian nods. “Okay, if you’re sure. Oh, what do you think about dragons?”

“I don’t really know anything about dragons,” Owen admits.

“Well, let’s say hypothetically, that you met one or something. Would you run away screaming?”

“I don’t know? I guess I run away from most things. So maybe.”

“Okay, but what if you knew that the dragon wouldn’t hurt you?”

“Then I probably wouldn’t run away.”

“Okay, cool, cool.” She pulls him down a different street.

“…Why, though?”

“Just wondering. Don’t worry about it.” She stops right in front of her house. “Here we go!”

“What are we doing again?” he asks, looking up at her house.

“Watching movies. Unless you wanna do something else?”

“No, we can watch a movie. I’ve never done it before.”

“…So, not only am I taking your hand shake virginity, but I’m taking your movie virginity too? Damn, I’m better than I thought.”

Owen doesn’t know what virginity means, but he’s not about to admit that. “I guess so.”

She laughs. “Come on, let’s get inside.”

He nods. “Yeah, okay.” He lets her lead the way.

As they enter, Xiaolian hears Bolin call out from the kitchen. “Hey _xiǎo mèimei!_ Sorry I slept in so late, Andrew texted last night saying they might be away today so I didn’t need to come in…”  Bolin rounds the corner – a tall man with long black hair, tied back in a ponytail, and somehow serious-looking even in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He’s drying his hands on a dish towel, and he stops mid-stride, frowning deeply. “…Who’s this, why have I never seen him before, and why are you holding his hand?”

Xiaolian’s eyes go comically wide and she immediately moves to stand in front of Owen, but forgets to let go of his hand. “H-hey _gēgē_!” She puts her free hand on her hip and scoffs. “This? This is just Owen! Also what did you do with your hair? It looks so good today!” She chuckles nervously.

Owen steps behind Xiaolian, looking over at the new person, a little scared.

He doesn’t stop frowning, and crosses his arms. “I know every single person in this town. There is one Owen – Owen Rainwater – and that—” He gestures to Owen with his forehead, giving him the impression of looking overtop of glasses which do not exist— “is _not_ Owen Rainwater.”

“He’s new in town!” She gives her brother a bright smile. “Don’t worry about it.” She gently squeezes Owen’s hand to check if he’s okay.

Owen still looks a little worried, and he holds onto the hand offered to him. He still doesn’t say anything.

Bolin’s face darkens. “Xiaolian. You show up _holding hands_ with a boy I’ve never seen before, who won’t introduce himself, you clearly baked the morning away for some unknown reason – and you tell me _not to worry?_ You had _better_ start explaining yourself, kiddo, because I am _not_ here for you sneaking around behind my back. It is my _job_ to worry about you.”

Xiaolian wants to die. “ _Gēgē,_ it’s nothing like that! I baked all of this for Shane but he wasn’t at work so I brought them home! And Owen is super shy! He needed a friend so I invited him over!”

Bolin now looks very confused. “You— you made all that for _Shane?_ Why on _earth_ would you— and what do you mean he’s not at work? And I’m all for you making friends but for God’s sake why are you holding his hand? And where the hell did he come from? What is going _on_ here? What were you two even planning on doing? Having a _bake sale?”_

“Am I not allowed to be affectionate with my friends?! And it was for an apology for Shane! And stop being so damn nosy about people!”

“You have brought a _complete stranger_ into our home, unannounced, unforewarned, do you have _any idea_ —” He cuts himself off, literally snapping his mouth shut.

Xiaolian growls. “He is my friend, and I’m allowed to have friends over.” She turns to Owen. “My room is up the stairs and the last door to your right. I’ll meet you up there.”

“You could have _let me know,_ ” Bolin says through gritted teeth. He turns on his heel and goes back into the kitchen.

Xiaolian groans. “Owen, head up. I promise I’ll be right there but I need to talk to my bodyguard.”

Owen looks at Xiaolian, looking quite frankly terrified. He nods, and heads up, following the directions he’s given.

Xiaolian watches to make sure he makes it up the stairs alright. Then she follows her brother into the kitchen. “Bolin, what is your deal?”

Bolin has gone back to washing dishes, dish towel slung over his shoulder. He doesn’t respond immediately, scrubbing at a mixing bowl.

Xiaolian scowls and puts her hands on her hips. “Bolin, we both know that the bowl is clean.”

He waits a moment, sighs, rinses the bowl off and puts it in the drying rack. He holds onto the edge of the sink, looks down into the sudsy water, and cracks his neck.

Xiaolian rubs her face. “Bolin, I need you to talk to me. Otherwise we both know we’re going to sulk and snap at each other all week long, and then we’ll blow up at each other. Which will only end with both of us crying and gaining an extra 10 pounds from stress eating. _Gēgē,_ please.”

His shoulders shake in a silent laugh, which turns into a sort of cough-laughing, which sounds … wet.

“ _Gēgē_? Are you okay?!” Xiaolian immediately goes up to him.

He stops laughing, and heaves a long sigh. “Yeah, _xiǎo mèimei_. Yeah. I’m fine.” His voice sounds thick, and he won’t look at her.

“You’re definitely not okay! Are you crying?!” Xiaolian’s voice starts rising in pitch.

“No, I… got soap in my eye.” It is the lamest of lies and he knows it, and he knows she knows it too.

Xiaolian doesn’t respond and instead just shoves herself into the space between him and the sink. She buries her face in his chest while she hugs him tight.

He stands there for a second, hands still on the sink edge, before giving in and wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he can. His hands are wet, and his breathing isn’t regular. He puts his head on top of hers and squeezes her so tightly, so protectively, it feels like he thinks she might just disappear if he doesn’t hold onto her.

Xiaolian can feel her eyes start watering. She listens to his heartbeat. “ _Gēgē_ , what’s wrong?”

He shifts his head so he can whisper in her ear. “ _Mòshēng rén kěnéng shì wéixiǎn de, xiǎo mèimei… Qǐng xiǎoxīn. Wǒ yě bù huì shīqù nǐ_.”

Xiaolian feels her heart stutter and it takes all her will not to start full-out sobbing. She pulls away slightly to stare her brother in the eyes. She brings her hands up to his cheeks and gently squishes them. “ _Nǐ bù huì shīqù wǒ. Wǒ bù huì shīqù nǐ. Shàngdì zìjǐ kěyǐ chángshì dài nǐ, wǒ huì zài tā nénggòu zhīqián shā sǐ tā. Nǐ shì wǒ de xiōngdì, méiyǒu mòshēng rén huì bǎ wǒmen fēnkāi. Bùshì zài wǒmen jīnglìguò de shìqíng zhīhòu_.” 

Bolin doesn’t answer her for a second, just looks at her determined and teary face. “ _Wǒ qídǎo nǐ shì duì de. Nǐ de yìzhì hěn qiáng_.” He leans forward and touches his forehead to hers. “ _Qǐng ānquán_.” 

Xiaolian closes her eyes when they touch foreheads. She lets the moment pass.

He pulls away, his smile still a little watery, and puts his hands on her shoulders. “What goodies did you make this morning?”

“You’re lucky I made so much. You can take some of any of them except for the Bigfoot footprints.”

He laughs softly. “Excellent.”

“I’m heading upstairs. And yes, I’ll leave the door open.” She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek before she heads up the stairs. She’s left poor Owen alone long enough.  She can hear Bolin opening Tupperware containers as she goes up the stairs.

Xiaolian walks into her room. “Owen? You okay? Sorry that took so long.”

Owen was just awkwardly sitting on the bed. He looks up at her when she walks in. “Who was that?” he asks.

“He’s my older brother. He basically raised me… sorry about how protective he got. He won’t be as forward anymore, promise.” She heads over to her TV. “What movie do you want to watch?”

Owen nods. “Okay,” he says, and then, “I don’t know any movies.”

“Right. Um, what kind of things do you like? In general.”

Apparently living with society just meant a lot of people asking you questions about yourself you don’t know the answers to. Owen shrugs. “I really don’t know… I’ve never had time for fun stuff.”

Xiaolian groans. This was going to be ten times harder than she thought. She sat down in front of the drawer containing all her DVDs. Xiaolian looked back up at Owen and patted the floor next to her. “We can look through them together.”

Owen gets up, sitting down next to her. “Okay. We can just… watch something you like, if you want, though.”

Xiaolian shakes her head. “No, I’ve seen all these multiple times. You should pick.” She looks over the titles. “Would you rather see something scary or funny?”

“Uh. Not scary. Funny is probably… much better.”

“Okay cool. Do you like animals?” Xiaolian crosses out the horror titles in her mind, which is like half of her movies.

“Yeah, animals are good.” He nods.

“Okay, so, I have _Hotel for Dogs, Air Buds, Kung Fu Panda, Happy Foot, Finding Nemo, Ice Age_ , and _Ratatouille_.” She points out each title and shows him the cover for each one.

“Um.” He looks between the movies, unable to decide.

“Okay, how about this, pick a number 1 through 7.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations:  
> "gēgē" [big brother]  
> "xiǎo mèimei" [little sister]  
> "Mòshēng rén kěnéng shì wéixiǎn de, xiǎo mèimei… Qǐng xiǎoxīn. Wǒ yě bù huì shīqù nǐ.” [Strangers can be dangerous, little sister… Please be careful. I will not lose you too.]  
> "Nǐ bù huì shīqù wǒ. Wǒ bù huì shīqù nǐ. Shàngdì zìjǐ kěyǐ chángshì dài nǐ, wǒ huì zài tā nénggòu zhīqián shā sǐ tā. Nǐ shì wǒ de xiōngdì, méiyǒu mòshēng rén huì bǎ wǒmen fēnkāi. Bùshì zài wǒmen jīnglìguò de shìqíng zhīhòu.” [You will not lose me. I will not lose you. God himself could try and take you and I would kill him before he could. You are my brother, no stranger is going to tear us apart. not after what we have been through.]  
> "Wǒ qídǎo nǐ shì duì de. Nǐ de yìzhì hěn qiáng. Qǐng ānquán." [I pray you’re right. You are so strong-willed. Please be safe.]


	2. Lunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hover over italicised foreign language text for translations! (Mobile and tablet users, please see the ending notes.) These are not written by native speakers by any means, please forgive the inevitable terrible errors if you are a speaker!

Meanwhile, across town, Cassandra Wojtek is headed for the information centre. While eating lunch in her van, she’d thought of a burning question she just _had_ to ask Ryan, and so she beat feet down the road: as she approaches Ryan’s home-slash-museum, she sees two people already at the door – a person with short turquoise hair, whom she believes she’s seen around the RV park and at the cafe, and a dark-skinned man in a dark trenchcoat, who she believes she’s also seen in the cafe once or twice.

She approaches the duo, careful to make as much sound with her steps as she can to announce her presence. “Excuse me,” she asks them, looking from one to the other, then towards the closed door. “The center isn’t open yet?” She has her hands in her pockets, and her hair is braided as usual in one long braid over her right shoulder.

James turns to the new person. “Yeah. Seems like everything in town is closed. We,” James nods his head in Roan’s direction, “just came from Alshaytania and it was closed too.”

Roan eyes the new woman carefully. They’re almost certain this is the woman that’s been asking _questions_. “Yeah, the cafe is shut too. I think this is officially weird now.” They pause, considering. “I’m Roan. This is James.” They turn to James. “Do you ever go by Jamie? Cause you’d be a good Jamie.”

James laughs. “I can’t say I have. It’s a good name though.”

“I’m Cassandra,” she says, unsure if she’s met James before. She thinks she remembers Roan – turquoise hair tends to stand out, after all – but they haven’t talked to her, so she doesn’t know a whole lot about them either. “Well, is it some kind of holiday? I don’t remember hearing anything…?”

“Yeah, that’s why we thought to come here,” Roan says.  “You would think the information centre would have some information.”

“I feel like if there was a holiday there would be signs up,” James adds.  “Why did you come to the centre, Cassandra?”

“Oh, I just wanted to ask Ryan something. Er, Mr Bergara,” she corrects herself, then looks up at the house, trying to see if any of the windows are open, or if there’s any lights inside. “I came here yesterday but it was super short, I couldn’t ask a lot. I’m a researcher,” she tells them, by way of explanation.

James nods. “I’m pretty sure this place is locked up tight.” He folds his arms over his chest. “What do we do now?”

Roan stuffs their hands in the pockets of their jeans. “I dunno about you two but I’m starving. So somewhere with food would be preferable…maybe there’s a town hall or something where someone will be able to tell us what’s going on and where food is.” Roan glances between the two, willing one of the adultier adults to make the decision. She’s too hungry to think properly.

“Food sounds like a good idea. It can’t hurt to try going to town hall.”

“Alright with me.” Cassandra looks at the house again, almost expecting Ryan to show up at the door and invite them in, then turns her back to it. “Do you mind if I tag along?”

James smiles warmly. “The more the merrier.” James starts walking down the street to where there might be a town hall, waiting a few steps away for his two temporary companions to catch up.

Roan bites their lip, pausing for a second before following after James. They have no idea where the town hall actually is and their stomach is growling so loudly that they think it might start eating itself. They turn to look at Cassandra. They might as well try and make an effort to be nice to the pretty, albeit suspicious, woman. “So, what are you researching, exactly? Why this small place? I can’t imagine there’s much to research.”

She follows them, having an idea of where the town hall is but not wanting to act like she _knows_ the place, because she doesn’t. Not as well as she’d like, anyway. “Well,” she flashes a smile to Roan. “It’s not anything exciting. I’m a sociologist, UBC-based, and I was here to study the human aspect of last November’s incidents. Collecting data about how a small town in the middle of nowhere reacts to phenomena that could be categorized as unnatural, and so on. I’m back now for follow-up of sorts? It’s already very different from when I was here in December, which is… interesting.”

Roan feels a slight blush come to their cheeks at Cassandra’s smile. Pretty women are not their strong point. “Incidents…? Oh, the aliens! Yeah, that’s what brought me here. Just taking some time off college. Exploring and all that.” They smile at Cassandra, hoping to get some more information. “Found anything especially interesting? Or really odd?”

“There’s the town hall.” James points at a building across the street from the general store.

As they pass, they notice that the general store is also closed.

“Oh, I thought you were from around here?” Cassandra pauses, then thinks back to December – no, she’d have remembered a college student with turquoise hair and the cutest blush. That’s when James opens the door, and Cass walks inside, not mentioning the general store closed across the street. Something was off, definitely. She could only hope it was an unannounced holiday and not something else. “I’m still in the process of collecting data, but so far, nothing really stands out,” she says to Roan, then turns to James. “You’re not local either, I assume?”

“Nope, came into town a couple days ago.”

“Can I ask what for? I mean, if you don’t mind me asking…”

“Nah, it’s totally cool. I heard some of the stories from this town and decided to stop by for a bit while I was in the area.”

The town hall is some sort of converted arena or country club or something: the interior is _big_ and wide open, though there are portable dividers set up in various places, sectioning off areas. The first thing they all notice is the sound of at least half a dozen younger children, who all seem to be having a _raucously_ good time – they’re not visible until one, a toddler of about three, comes _flying_ around the corner of a divider, shrieking with delighted laughter, as a shorter woman with straight blond hair chases after her, threatening to tickle the little kid. The child makes it about halfway down the large hall towards the door before the woman catches them, swoops them up into their arms, and heads back over to the back of the hall, disappearing behind the divider again.

Closer to the door, there’s a _quite_ tall man – easily 6’3”- sitting on a wooden chair, legs outstretched. He’s reading a book and has a pencil tucked behind his ear; he’s wearing beige jeans, a blue plaid shirt, and big square glasses with thick rims. As he sees the door opening above his book, he looks up: as he sees the trio enter, he beams a huge grin at them. Literally huge. It’s … an impressive smile, honestly. “Hi!” he says.

Cassandra glances at her companions, then back at the man. She approaches him with a smile, “Hello! We’re… Well, we were looking for some information, and we figured this was the place to ask, Mr…?”

He springs to his feet, putting the book on the chair, and strides forward. “Keith! Keith Habersberger. Nice to meet you! I don’t think we’ve crossed paths before.” He looks at the three of them. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve met any of you! Welcome to Willow River!”

James is distracted by the young kids running around. He smiles and waves at them when they look at him. As the kid gets taken away, his smile falls, his thoughts a thousand miles away. He snaps out of his thoughts as the man greets them, and quickly puts on a fake smile. “Hello.”

Keith notices his wave and looks over his shoulder, seeing the woman and the small child disappearing behind the partition wall. “Man, little kids sure do run, eh? I don’t know _how_ Ariel keeps up with them.”

Roan shuffles awkwardly in the back of the group. Keith seems just too smiley for them to trust him.

“Oh… I can’t say I know much. Only child.” James smiles awkwardly.

Keith chuckles. “Fair enough! You folks said you were looking for some information? Well…” He gives them a sort of humorously conspiratorial look, leaning in a little. “ _Usually_ I’d send you over to Banjo, but I’ll do in a pinch.”

“Thank you! We’re not from around here, as you can see,” Cassandra smiles to the other two, then at Keith. “We were just wondering if there’s any reason why a lot of things are closed today? Establishments, I mean. We were just at the Information Center, closed. And they,” she motions towards the others “have been to the bookshop, and I noticed the general store closed, too… Any particular reason for that? Where is everyone?” She jokes, influenced by Keith’s good humor and big smiles.

“It’s a Saturday,” Keith deadpans, a twinkle in his eye. “They’re all at home with their families.” He then turns serious. “Wait, did you say the bookstore was closed? Shane’s place?”

“Yeah,” Cassandra confirms. “Is that… unusual?”

“Everywhere seems to be shut. Even M and D,” Roan comments for the first time.

Keith frowns. “The cafe’s shut, too? Hm. That’s odd.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and fires off a text. “I’m not surprised the information center and the general store are shut – Ryan and Banjo went out last night, they weren’t expecting to be back until tonight sometime. But the cafe and the bookstore – that’s weird.”

“Well, we were interested in getting some food while we wait for Alshaytania to open up. Is there anywhere to eat? Other than the Monstrous and the Divine of course.” James wants to know what is happening in this town, but talking to other people who aren’t native to this town could help his research.

Roan feels her stomach grumble. “Yeah, food is kinda the important bit here.”

“Oh!” Keith grins again. “ _That_ I can definitely help you with.” He looks at his watch. “I’d suggest the Sidekick Bar! My buddy Chris does the back of house there so I can one _hundred_ percent assure you the food’s great. Also, completely locally owned! It’s, like, right across from Alshaytania, you can’t miss it.”

“Sure, but…” Cassandra frowns. She asks Keith, “Do you mean weird as in, ‘oh, everyone decided to take the day off at the same time’ weird, or _weird_ weird?”

He tilts his head. “Well, I mean, it’s weird that Andrew, Adam, and Shane aren’t back yet. I know they went out last night too, but I thought they were planning to be back by morning. I just asked Steven what’s up—” he waves his phone— “I’m sure he’ll know.” He shrugs. “Sometimes hunting trips take a little longer than you’d think – just a bit odd they haven’t checked in. Could be they camped out in a low-service area.”

The phrase ‘hunting trips’ piques James’s interest. “Oh, you guys must get some good game around here to keep them out all night!” James gets to keep his tone as happy as possible.

Keith’s smile stays a little more frozen than you might expect. “Oh yeah, everyone hunts in Willow River. Freezers full of venison. The longer trips are usually to help out the BC park folks, though – if there’s an injured bear or something, we take care of it.”

Cassandra is watching the exchange in silence. She hopes James is as curious as he seems to be.

“Well, I hope they didn’t run into something too bad.” James’s smile drops for a second. “I mean, injured bears can be dangerous. Does this town have a… group that can help them if needed?” James goes back to smiling again, acting as if he is just asking about the routine workings of the town.

“Oh yeah,” Keith nods. “Like I said, everyone hunts in Willow River. Usually, if someone’s out twenty-four hours past their check-in time, we send a second team out. That’s my job, actually – it’s why I got my nickname.”

“And what nickname would that be?” Cassandra asks with a grin.

He grins, twinkle back in his eye. “The mayor.”

Cass actually laughs before she can stop herself, which ends up sounding more like a snort. “Good. That was a good one. Oh god, so you’re the mayor! Nice to meet you!”

James smiles and laughs quietly; Roan gives a half smile, trusting the actual adults to deal with this conversation.

Keith’s grin is eternal, unchanging. “Yeah – Willow River hasn’t had an actual mayor in decades, too small. But I handle administrative work for the municipality, and the community check-in teams responsibility comes along with. Don’t worry about the folks who aren’t quite home yet – we’ll take care of it. You guys go on down to Sidekick for some lunch. Tell whoever’s at the counter – Saturday afternoon, probably Jen, unless Eugene’s showing some coworkerly spirit – that I sent you.”

“Where exactly is Sidekick?” James inquires.

“Across from Alshaytania, right?” Cassandra asks the mayor. “And if I may, this group that went out hunting… Any chance they went after whatever hurt that hitchhiker the other day?” She does her best to sound nonchalant, even if she’s curious and certainly interested in _why_ a large group would go out in the woods so recently after a body had been found. Unless Willow River really is as clueless as they seem to be…

Roan feels a frown cross her face but she keeps quiet. There’s definitely more going on than it seems in this town.

“Yep, across from Shane’s,” Keith confirms. “And – possibly? There’s been sightings of a nasty bobcat lately – could have been what got the hiker. Impossible to tell, really.” He shrugs.

“A bobcat? Wow.” Roan knows that someone is lying but she isn’t sure quite who. “Maybe we should head to Sidekick if that’s where food is…” Roan is still largely concerned with getting food.

“Yes, we should be heading to lunch. Thank you, both for the recommendation and the info about hunting here.” James smiles at Keith and begins to head to the door.

“Yeah, thank you. Hope we’ll see you around!” Cassandra tells Keith with a smile and a wave before she heads after James. She really did like the guy. Figures Willow River would get the nicest guy in town for that job.

Roan shoots a smile at Keith before hurrying after James and Cassandra. They don’t exactly trust them but they seem to know where food is, so Roan is content to follow after them.

* * *

A few blocks down, right across from Alshaytania – which is still dark – is the squat in-store building, with an unlit neon sign reading “Sidekick Bar and Grill”. According to the hours of operation, it opened for business for the day about thirty minutes ago.

“Oh Allah,” James mumbles when he sees the unlit sign. He reaches out to open the front door.

It’s open. Someone’s just forgotten to turn the sign on.

James turns to Roan and Cassandra. “I almost had a heart attack. I’m so glad they are open.”

“Jesus, imagine if they weren’t. I’m running on cereal bars these days,” she says, nodding when James goes for the door, nudging him to go on with it.

The interior of the Sidekick Bar and Grill is considerably darker than M&D: black cinder block walls with a navy blue carpet, dark leather booths with rich warm brown wooden panelling, tables and chairs. There are skylights dotted along the ceiling, throwing plenty of natural light into the diner, and white highlights on the tables – napkin rings, condiment baskets, the like. There’s a stage on one side of the building, with space for a dance floor in front: there’s a drum set on it, a guitar stand, and a couple of microphones and amps.

The bar, on the other side of the room, is an imposing monolithic piece of black marble shot through with white veins, and the liquor cabinet behind it is fully stocked and brilliantly backlit. Standing at the counter – or rather, leaning on it and gazing thoughtfully out across the empty room – is a gorgeous man, who adds a few inches to his already above-average height with a perfectly coiffed high pompadour of glossy black hair. His face is perfect, with just a hint of makeup, and he’s wearing a long black coat with a high collar, and a white suit underneath, with several silver rings on his fingers and a large silver watch poking out from under one cuff. It’s very avant-garde, and not at all Willow River, and absolutely stunning.

“Wow,” Cassandra says as soon as she walks in. “This is something.” She regrets not coming here sooner. Turning to the others, she says, “Shall we sit?”

“Hell yeah, this place is awesome!” James looks around the dimly lit room. “Lead the way.”

As they head for their chosen spot, the man at the counter notices them and follows them over, grabbing three menus on his way. Once they’ve sat, he smiles, bows slightly, and sets the menus in front of them. “Good afternoon folks,” he says, “welcome to the Sidekick Bar and Grill. I’m Eugene. Can I start you off with anything?”

“Just a water for me.” James begins lightly looking over the menu.

“Same for me. No, actually—a beer, please,” she says, scanning the menu but not really paying attention. She’s still thinking back to their encounter with the ‘mayor’.

“Water, sure— beer, what’s your pleasure? I’ve got a wide selection, you name it and I probably have it.” He gives an easy, disarming smile.

Cassandra blinks. Why is everyone here so pretty again? “Uh. Why don’t you surprise me?”

“Oooh,” he says, leaning back on one foot and tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Dark or light?”

“Light, please,” she smiles, then closes the menu. “So, this is where the music is at? At night, I mean. I’ve been promised live music by a couple of people in town.”

“Light it is.” He smiled. “Yeah! One of my bartenders has a metal band with a few other guys in town, they play a couple of times a month and she books folks in from all over. It’s mostly young groups trying to get a place to test their stuff, and I’m happy to give them the chance.” He looks at the trio. “I’ll be right back with your drinks, give you folks a second to decide what you want to eat. Chris is just finishing up the first batch of fried chicken – I think he went with a Mongolian spice mix today, I’m really psyched to try it, so that’d be my recommendation.” He sweeps away into the back room, through a door behind the bar.

“Alright then,” Cass watches him walk away, then turns conspicuously to the other two, “Is it just me or is everyone around here either super nice or super hot?”

“You are speaking directly to my soul girl.” James sets down the menu. “Have you been to the book store yet?!”

“Yup. Couple of times, it’s a great place. Apparently Shane has everything under the sun in that tiny shop, it’s amazing.”

“He has one pretty decent book about the town’s history, but it stops at 2010. I was wondering if, though your investigation, do you have much info about… literally anything that happened after that?”

Cassandra thinks for a second. “Not much, no. But I do have the basics. What exactly are you looking for?”

“Well…” James takes a second to think. He could use some info on the people of this town. Cassandra’s work could help shed some light on this weird town. “To be honest, not a clue. This place is… really weird.” James thinks back to how he and Cassandra worked together to try and get more info out of Keith. “And…” James lowers his voice,” they’re hiding something. Especially about whatever half the town was doing last night.”

“Oh?” To say Cassandra was surprised was an understatement. Sure, James was too conveniently quiet and unassuming, but she wasn’t expecting his thoughts to line up with hers so easily. “Yeah. Yeah, actually, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Keith – the mayor – looked like a nice guy, but come on. I’m pretty sure it’s got something to do with the hitchhiker’s death. Something that no one here seems to be worried about, and what’s up with _that_?”

“Yes!” James leans forward, dropping most of this calm demeanor. “When I got to town I talked with a one Cecilia Tinsley who told me that it was just a drunk hitchhiker who passed out and died. But then, I went to Ryan.” As James talks, he starts gesturing with his hands, getting more animated. “And Ryan showed me some very interesting pictures of the dead body. The last thing it looked like was the result of a drunk hitchhiker.”

Roan raises their eyebrows at the sudden change in James’ demeanour. They knew something weird was going on in the town and they had a feeling that these two could be the key. They stay quiet, hoping that is the best way to get information. They don’t know anything to be able to add to the conversation.

“Exactly!” Cass doesn’t try to hide her interest in the topic either. Finally, someone who doesn’t act like a dead body is yesterday’s news! “I don’t think a bobcat would do that. And now we find out that several people went hunting? They must know something. But the fact that they haven’t gotten back yet… I wonder what the mayor knows that he’s not telling us.” She eyes Roan, and says, apologetically: “Sorry if this is too, uh, unsavory.”

Roan shrugs. “Oh no, something is definitely suspicious about this town. And I really want to know what. I just…don’t actually know anything.” They give a half smile before turning serious again. “That body definitely feels like the start of something though.”

Just then, Eugene returns with a tray of drinks. “Two waters, and the best IPA this side of the Rockies.” He sets the glasses down. “What can I get you folks for lunch?”

James leans back in his seat as Eugene come to the table. He smiles calmly, “I’ll have the Mongolian chicken.”

Roan smiles up at him. “Make that two.”

“Well, make that three. Can’t pass up the opportunity,” Cass says, smiling before taking a sip from her beer. She waits until Eugene has walked away to say, “Good to know I’m not the only one that feels like something is off, though. And I never really answered your question, James, but this town—this entire area, actually, has seen some weird shit in the past decades. Ever heard of the Highway of Tears?”

“Vaguely.” James leans forward again. It seems he can effortlessly change between being calm and collected and being totally focused to their weird conversation.

“I’ve never heard of it.” Roan knows that whatever it is, it ain’t good.

“You’ve done your research,” Cass says to James, impressed. “Highway of Tears is a reference to Highway 16. You know, the one just by Prince George, to our… Uh, southwest, I think? It’s called that because of a series of disappearances since the 60s. Very few ever saw any kind of resolution. Most are still open cases to this day…”

“That is… sad. But it could mean something.” James reaches into his coat and pulls out a leather-bound journal. The cover says رحلة مستمرة and is quickly hidden as James flips to a page. “Okay, so are you guys familiar with the alien stuff that was reported here?”

“Bright lights, abduction, the whole nine yards, right?” Roan quickly jumps in, glad they finally know something.

“Yes, that’s what brought me here in the first place,” Cass says, watching them.

“Yes. And missing time, mysterious fires, animals going missing and winding up looking… eaten.” James points at spots in his book as he mentions the phenomenon. He looks up at Cassandra and Roan. “I’ve found some pretty graphic stuff. Probably best not talked about during lunch.”

“Eaten? By people or…?” Roan frowns, something sparking in their brain. “Wasn’t that body they found sort of eaten…?”

“Yes. And it… it looks a lot like human, or human-like, teeth.” James sets his book on the table, still open.

Roan feels their mouth drop open. “How on earth do you know that? Did you see the body or?” James’ words sink in again. “Human-like teeth? What has human-like teeth other than humans?” Roan looks confused.

Cassandra doesn’t say anything, but she watches James intently.

“I’ve seen some pictures.” James pauses for a second. “And the phrase human-like teeth really just means more blunt teeth. Most animal predators have very sharp teeth, meant for ripping flesh.” James tries to look nonchalant but it clashes pretty badly with his behavior just a few minutes ago.

“Huh.” Though the information isn’t exactly nice, Roan is glad to finally be finding out _something_. “So you think the body and the aliens and the bizarre closures today are connected?”

James shrugs. “Both things happen in or near the forest. And… it’s moving. Northwest. To the mountains.”

“Besides,” Cass cuts in, deciding that she might as well share this piece of info, too. “This body wasn’t the first.”

Roan’s eyebrows shoot up. “How many more have there been?”

James looks at Cassandra. “The homeless man, right? I don’t know anything about him, except… ya know.”

“Yeah, I don’t know a lot else, either. It’s just like you said: homeless man, found dead in the woods, missing limbs. And I only know of this other one,” Cassandra reassures Roan. “But it’s worrying, because it was maybe a couple of months between both of—” She stops short. “Wait. I just remembered something.”

James furrows his brow. “What?”

“When I went to see Ryan Bergara yesterday,” she says, and suddenly she’s pulled out her phone from her pocket; she starts tapping and scrolling immediately. “You know, the IC guy—he had to take a call. He mentioned a place. Hold on a sec.” She continues to scroll something on her screen, until she finally finds it. “There! He mentioned Grand Central Station. And something about an SD card.”

Roan just watches the exchange in confusion.

“That could be a meeting place for whatever these people are doing here.” James pulls out a pen and scribbles the location into his book.

“Gotta be a nickname for somewhere.” Roan interjects. “There’s no way this town has any sort of station.”

“True. Maybe it’s a bus station, rather than a train station.”

“Maybe it’s not even here,” Cassandra shrugs, but her eyes are wide in excitement. “Didn’t the mayor say a couple of people weren’t coming back until the next day? Maybe it’s because it’s not exactly close by.”

Eugene returns with a large tray with plates on it – three large plates with heavenly smelling fried chicken and piled high with hand-cut fries. He sets them down, makes sure they have everything, and sweeps away into the back.

James sits in thought, absentmindedly eating his food. “Okay, so, Grand Central Station is in New York City. It’s a stop for the subway train.”  He eats another fry. “Willow River does have a train station. Maybe that’s where they’re meeting.”

Roan nods at James’ statement. Their mouth is too full of amazing chicken to actually talk but they hope their vigorous nodding gets the point across.

James is kinda looking off in the distance, double checking that his logic makes sense.

“Yeah,” Cassandra says, absentminded. She’s enjoying her food, sure, but she can’t stop thinking. Does it make sense for them to go to NYC? Probably not. A train station? Not a lot more sense either if they consider these people went after a—a what, exactly? Jesus. They don’t even know that. “Ok. Ok, sure, we could check the train station. But I don’t think that’s where they were headed. What if… What if they just mean some place that’s busy, or packed? Somewhere where there’s an influx of people, or—” She stops, fork hanging mid-air. “What if they’re talking about the RV park?”

James eats more chicken, it’s really good. “Makes sense but…are there a lot of people there this time of year?”

“Are there a lot of people _any_ where in this town?”

Cassandra almost chokes on her beer when Roan says that. “True,” she says, laughing. “But seriously, I don’t know what else to think. It’s either a train station – which implies there’s something deadly living there somewhere – or somewhere with lots of movement. Maybe lots of cars. Hence the park.”

Roan takes a sip of their water before speaking. “I’d say we try the train station then the RV park. We’d need to figure out how to get there however…”

“Yeah, I’m not sure I know the way either. James?”

“Sounds like the best idea.”

“Alright. Then once we finish here we can, uh… Get directions. Or a guide. Whatever we can get.” She ponders for a second, then smiles. “Nice to know I’ll have company for this, at least.”

“I mean you two have already told me more in this one lunch than I had heard in my entire week here so I’m happy to stick along for the ride.” Roan smiles at Cassandra, bolstered by the woman’s own smile.

James has stuffed his whole mouth with chicken so he just kinda nods and smiles.

After a while, Eugene comes around again. “Bills separate?” he asks.

“It’s okay, I got it,” Cass says, handing over her card. “Compliments to your friend, by the way, the chicken was heavenly.” When the transaction is over, she turns to the other two: “Should we just do it now? Are we asking at the town hall again?”

“I’d say yes. I almost couldn’t find town hall in the first place.”

Roan nods, still baffled at the easy way Cass paid for the meals. “Yeah, we’d better see if they have a map or a guide or something.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations:  
> رحلة مستمرة [ongoing journey]


	3. Afternoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hover over italicised foreign language text for translations! (Mobile and tablet users, please see the ending notes.) These are not written by native speakers by any means, please forgive the inevitable terrible errors if you are a speaker!

After the short walk back, they find themselves back at the town hall. They'd spent a solid hour or so having lunch and chatting, and the little kids have moved outside - there are indeed half a dozen of them, now all wrapped up in snowsuits that seem a little bit like overkill for the chilly weather (more likely their parents just haven't dug out the spring jackets yet), tearing around a little fenced-in playground just beside the building. The straight-haired blonde woman from before is sitting on a bench nearby, along with another woman, a little taller, with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail. They're chatting while the kids play.  James smiles and waves at the kids as they approach, pausing a moment while Cassandra and Roan walk on a few steps.

"Hello!" Cassandra slows down on their way to the front of the building, giving the women a friendly smile. "They're so cute," she says, watching the kids play around. "Yours?"

The women look over at Cassandra and smile. The blonde replies, "One is mine, the rest are kids from the neighbourhood." She points to a toddler in a green snowsuit.

The brunette shakes her head. "No kids here - just love taking care of them. I don't think I recognize you folks. New in town?"

"The cutest snowsuit ever," Cass says to the blond woman with a chuckle. She turns to the brunette, "Yeah, just visiting. I'm Cassandra. We're actually here to talk to the mayor or someone else about guides? Should we just head inside or...?"

James rejoins the group. "Hi, I'm James. I'm here with Cassandra." James is kinda speaking quickly. "Would it be cool if I…?" he gestures to the playground awkwardly.

"I'm Ariel," the blond woman says. She follows James' gesture, and looks at the brunette, who thinks about it then nods. "Sure! Go ahead. They love having someone new to play with."

James smiles warmly, probably the most sincere smile anyone around him has seen all day. He enters the playground and is swarmed with children.

The brunette looks at Cassandra. "And I'm Becky. Keith would be happy to tell you where to go - or he'll be able to tell you someone who can show you around. He's great that way."

Roan gives a half wave at the women. “I’m Roan. I’m gonna go join James.” They grin sheepishly. “I love kids.” They follow James into the playground.  The kids are ecstatic to have new people to play with.

"Oh, great!" Cass says to Becky, then watches her new … friends? colleagues? run towards the children. It's endearing, really. "Before I head in to talk to Keith, though, lemme just ask - is the train station too far from here? I drove in but I'm thinking of visiting Prince George next weekend so I was wondering, is it okay to just... walk there? Don't want to take any chances, you know how it is, a young woman traveling all by herself..."

Ariel laughs. "Oh, no, nothing's very far in Willow River and everyone is friendly. You won't have any trouble. Things are always pretty quiet. Just gotta keep an eye out when you're in the forest, that's all."

“That’s so reassuring. Must be nice living in a town like Willow River, having a family and raising your kids here,” Cass is smiling, watching the children - and the two adults, bless them - play around. She turns back to Ariel, “The forest? What about it?”

She shrugs. "Standard forest safety. Lots of wildlife out there. And yes, it's a really lovely place. Nice and quiet, very friendly people, very supportive community."

“Oh, okay. Not so hard to stay out of the forest, I can do that,” Cass chuckles, then indicates the town hall with her head. “I’m gonna see if I can get us a guide, see if the mayor has someone in mind. Thanks for the help, folks! Lovely meeting you.”

"Any time!" Ariel and Becky wave, then turn back to watching the kids and their new friends.

Cassandra walks away, calling out to James and Roan that she’s going in, but she’s not sure they hear her. She walks inside, looking for the honestly worryingly tall mayor.

Keith has moved slightly - he's now sitting at a desk, relatively close to the entrance, which is half-enclosed in the portable partition walls. There's a filing cabinet behind him, but the desk is covered in papers. Looks like he's doing some administrative work.

“Knock knock,” Cassandra says with a timid smile as she taps lightly on the partition wall. “Can I interrupt or should I come back later?”

Keith looks up and beams his megawatt smile. "Interrupt away! What can I do for you?"

“Thank you!” She walks in, then says, “We were talking over lunch that we don’t know the town as well as we’d like, and we wondered if maybe we could find a guide? You know, just to show us around, get to properly know Willow River.” She smiles, but hurriedly adds: “But if there isn’t one it’s fine, we could make do with a map and a few pointers, probably.”

He leans back in his chair and taps his chin with the ballpoint pen he was using to write. He spins his chair side to side a little, thoughtfully. "I know just the person," he says, after a moment, "Xiaolian Chen. She's lived here all her life and she's the adventurous sort, so if you guys want to go off the beaten path a little she'll know where to go and how to do so safely."

“That sounds great! Just what we’re looking for.”

"Here, let me show you where her house is ... " Keith pulls out a paper map of Willow River, and points it out. "She and her brother Bolin live there. Tell them I sent you along."

“Will do.” Just to make sure, Cassandra pulls out her phone and takes a picture of the map and the exact location. “Thank you! I will leave you to your work now. Have a nice day!”

"You too! Come by any time, we here at the unofficial mayoral office love to help out, when we're not being attacked by the half-dozen kids from the daycare..." He gives a slightly long-suffering look at the side door of the building, as if dreading the inevitable invasion of toddlers.

Cassandra chuckles at that, “They sure look like a lot of work. Cute work, but still. See you around!”

She walks out and over to where James and Roan seem to be having the time of their lives. “Hey, guys? Whenever you’re ready, we have a guide! Well, almost. We have her address,” she waves her phone.

James looks up as Cassandra calls his name. He turns to the kids he was just pushing in the swings and tells them goodbye. The kids - a little boy and a little girl, one four and one three - emit loud noises of protest, skid to a halt, and hug the ever-living heck out of James before letting him go when Ariel tells them he has to go.

"Bye Mister James!!" shouts the little girl, waving frenetically as the trio leave.

"Bye Miss—" begins the little boy, only to be elbowed in the side _hard_ by the little girl. "Bye ... Roan!!" he finishes.

"Bye!" James waves back at the kids for as long as he can still see them when they walk away.

"Bye!" Roan echoes James, joining him in waving for as long as the kids are in eyesight.

James continues waving at them as he joins up with Cassandra.  Roan waves at the kids as they follow him over to where Cassandra is standing. 

“Her name is Xiaolian Chen, she’s lived here all her life,” Cassandra shows them the picture of the map and begins heading in that direction. “Also, according to Becky and Ariel, the walk to the train station is clear. They made it sound like nothing ever happens here, so maybe we should keep a low profile with our guide too... What do you guys think?”

"I'd say claiming to be three tourists that decided to hang out is our best option,” Roan says.

James nods.  "I agree. The dumb tourist route is a classic."

“Alright, it’s unanimous then,” Cass says. They head over to Xiaolian’s house.

* * *

Several minutes later, upon arrival and knocking, a tall Chinese man in his early thirties answers the door. He's wearing a t-shirt and slacks, his long black hair tied back in a ponytail. "Hi?" he says, looking unsure.

"Hello," James is pulling out all of his charm. "We just came from the town hall… um, Keith told us to ask for Chen Xiaolian?"

The man looks amused. "Did he, now?" He leans back, looks over his shoulder, and calls up the stairs. " _Xiǎo mèimei! Jī sī gěi nǐmen tígōngle gèng duō wúzhī de yóukè! Ràng tāmen zhè cì fù qián, è_?"

" _Wǒ zài xiǎng sānshí měiyuán! Gàosù tāmen wǒ huì mǎshàng xiàlái,_ ” comes a young woman's voice from upstairs.

" _Dà! Kuài diǎn, wǒ de ménláng shàng yǒusān gè mòshēng rén..._ " replies the man in the doorway.

Upstairs, Xiaolian turns to Owen. “Would you rather stay here and just keep watching movies? Or do you want to go with me?”

"...Go where?" asks Owen, who is... more than a little bit confused about hearing another language.

“I usually help out by giving a tour of the town for tourists," Xiaolian explains.  "You wanna come with?”

"Okay." He nods, giving her a small smile. "I'll come with you."

Back downstairs, the man in the doorway looks back at James, Cassandra, and Roan. "She's on her way down."  He shifts position, bracing himself against the door and highlighting his terrific biceps. "What brings you folks to town?"

“Aliens,” Cassandra blurts out, blinking a little awestruck. “I mean. Research. On aliens.“

Roan feels a blush rise on their cheeks at the ridiculous hotness of this dude. "Aliens." They blurt out. "Uh, me too. On the aliens."

He raises an eyebrow. "You're a few months too late for the lights in the sky."

Roan shrugs. "Just kinda travelling. Heard about the aliens, thought I'd pop in." They can still feel the blush on their cheeks.

James laughs lightly. "I'm really just a tourist. Looking for a new place to go camping."

The man looks skeptical, but they kind of get the feeling he always looks skeptical. "Well, alright. Suit yourselves. I presume you've all gone to see the information center already?"

“Yeah. It’s closed today, though,” Cassandra adds dumbly before shutting up. She can let the others handle this. What _is it_ with this town and all its glorious residents?

"Is it? Huh," he says, looking a little puzzled. "Ryan's usually open on Saturday afternoons."

"Ah, well, maybe we can go back. Check out those ghost tours." James is also asking himself why everyone here is so fucking attractive.

He snickers. "Definitely take Xiaolian with you on those ones. Or, even better, see if you can convince the bookstore owner to go along."

Xiaolian comes down the stairs, holding Owen’s hand again. She pulls him to the door and peeps around her brother. “Oh! James!” She looks up at her brother. “ _Wǒ rènshì tā. Tā yòng lìng yī zhǒng yǔyán yǔ Shane jiāotán._ ” She looked back at them. “Why do you guys need me?”

The man looks over at the pair, and squints. " _Zhēn de... xiànzài hěn yǒuqù._ "

"Hey Xiaolian, nice to see you again,” James says with a smile. “We just wanted the full tourist experience and thought a guide would help. Meet Roan and Cassandra."

Owen glances over at Bolin with a vaguely worried expression, before looking at the rest of the group. Oh, no, hadn't he tried to eat that person? He steps behind Xiaolian.

Roan squints at the boy standing behind Xiaolian. Wasn't that the strange boy from the cafe? The one who looked like he needed a three-course meal and a hug?

“ _Hóng fā nǚláng shì wài xīng nǚrén ba? Wǒ kěyǐ bāng tā ma?_ ” She looks up at her brother.

The man looks at Cassandra thoughtfully. " _Nà jiù duìle. Wǒ wàngle._ "

Cassandra catches their looks and smiles, waving at them. She has no idea what they’re saying, though.

He looks back at Xiaolian after a moment. " _...Wǒ xiāngxìn nǐ, xiǎo mèimei. Xiǎoxīn. Zhǐyào gàosù tāmen tāmen xūyào zhīdào shénme._ "

James understands none of what the pair are saying but it reminds him of when he would do the same thing with his sister at school, having secret conversations in front of everyone.

“ _Dāngrán. Wǒ xiànzài zǒu chūqùle. Wǒ ài nǐ._ ” Xiaolian gives him a kiss on the cheek before pulling Owen out behind her. But she stops and looks at Owen. “Before we leave, are you sure you’re not hungry?”

Owen just nods, not making eye contact with anyone. "Mm hmm. Definitely sure."

James looks suspiciously at Owen. His mannerisms remind him of something he had read this morning. He will remember this.

“You’re sure you’re _hungry_?” Xiaolian turns back to Owen.

"No, I'm _not_ hungry. Promise."

Xiaolian nods and pulls Owen outside. “Let's get going! Are there specific places y’all want to see or an end destination?” She looks to the trio.

Cassandra looks at Roan and James, hesitating. “Uh. What do you guys think?”

James shrugs. "I'm up for the full tourist experience."

“Cool. Let's start. This is my house.” Xiaolian uses her thumb to point behind her. “But the most important part about this house is this.” She leads them around the corner and points to a major dent in the wall that’s been framed. A plate below that says ‘Battle of the Asian Boys. Winner: Bolin.’ “This is from when Bolin and Eugene had a fight and Bolin punched the wall.”

"Sick," James says, thinking about Eugene and Bolin sparring, and looking amused.

"Impressive," Cass says, trying not to laugh. "I mean, there's a plate and all. Cool. Xiaolian— can I call you that? Or would rather have me call you Miss Chen? In any case, could you perhaps direct us more towards... Uh, I don't know, local businesses? Maybe we could visit the train station, too, if it's not too out of your way..."

Xiaolian makes a face. “Xiaolian. Please don’t ever call me Miss Chen.” She looks up at the sky, thinking through her usual route. “It should be fine, it’s not too out of the way.” She turns and heads out to the street.

“Great!” Cassandra says but she’s not sure if the girl hears her as she’s already out in the street. “And thank you,” she calls out, following her. “It’s nice of you to do this. We will pay you for your time, of course.”

"So Xiaolian, who's your friend?" James smiles at Owen, but it doesn't reach his eyes.  Owen backs up behind her again, looking up at James, vaguely apprehensive.

Roan immediately feels themself tense up slightly at James’ tone. The man clearly suspects something but that’s no reason to scare the kid. They smile at Owen, hoping to try and offset some of the unfriendliness in James’ tone.

Xiaolian frowns at Owen backing up and she tightens her grip. “His name is Owen. He’s really shy, so don't push him to talk.” Xiaolian gives James her sweetest smile while her eyes give a very clear warning to back off. Owen smiles slightly at Xiaolian, grateful for her speaking for him.

James drops the subject for now, but he thinks Owen looks very suspicious. He thinks back to his list of theories, and begins comparing Owen's actions to the monsters he suspects.

 “So…” Cassandra tries not to get mixed up in the weird stares and standoffish words. “Are we far from the station?”

“We’re not too far,” Xiaolian says. “If you want I can just take you straight there.”

"Sounds good. I mean, we still want the full tour, but since we seem to need some kind of goal here..." She gives James a pointed look, a look that says _What's up with you, man?_ and then smiles at Xiaolian. "It's best if we head there first and then come back into town to get the whole picture, I think."

James catches Cassandra's look. He knows he looks like a dick but _something is wrong with this kid._ He waves off Cassandra's question and tries his best to act like a happy tourist.

“Are there any specific places you guys want to see or know about?” Xiaolian moves so that Owen is on the inside of the pathway.

"Well, I for one am interested in basically everything about this town." James does his best to channel his inner dumb white tourist.

"The train station, mainly,’ Cassandra says.  “I kinda wanna go there on the weekend so knowing the way now would be nice. And places to eat, I believe? Also, we'd appreciate a visit to the RV park. That's where I'm staying, but for the most part I've been in my van, so..." She lets her words die off before adding, "Lots of places closed today, though. I wonder if the bookstore is open now?"

“Why wouldn’t the book store be open?” Xiaolian starts creating a mental map in her head of the tour.

"Well, it wasn't earlier today... Right, James? Roan?"

"Yeah, we went there this morning and it was locked up tight," Roan agrees.

Xiaolian frowns. She wonders if it has to do with the hunt. But why would Shane be in it considering what happened? “Oh, well if it wasn’t open earlier I doubt it is now.”

James frowns. “That’s a shame.”  He really wants to do more research… and see more of Shane.

* * *

At the end of the main road lies the quiet little train station, unassuming and plain - like most of Willow River. The train tracks stretch off into the distance. The sign on the wall says the train comes in every few days - Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, to be specific.

Xiaolian makes a sweeping gesture with her free hand. “Ta da! The station!”

Roan glances around. It seems pretty obvious that wherever everyone is, they aren’t all somehow hiding in the train station. 

"Alright," Cass says, looking around. She walks onto the platform, looking from side to side. "Tiny, huh?" She tries to see if there's any signs that someone was recently here - any packages left, any lockers with a padlock, anything of the sort.

“Yeah, it’s not really anything special, I don’t know why you wanted to see it…” Xiaolian says, looking at them quizzically.

"Well, this is a great way to see the surrounding area! You know, take a day trip to a nearby town, et cetera. We just didn't know where it was,” Cassandra says.

“Yeah, it wasn’t so much the station,” Roan chimes in, “more what the station... represents?”

Xiaolian looks at them like they’re crazy.

The wind shifts, and Owen, now standing downwind of Roan, gets an intense breath of someone who smells really, really good.  It's not so strong of an impulse that he can't resist it, but before he remembers himself, he's put a hand on Roan's shoulder and stopped _just_ short of trying to bite them.

Xiaolian reacts immediately, pulling Owen off of Roan and putting herself in between them. Owen comes back to himself fully as the wind shifts away again, and goes bright red in embarrassment. This has happened _twice_ and it's not even close to when he has to eat again. What's different about this person? He clings onto Xiaolian's arm.

“What the fuck was that? Were you just about to _bite_ me?” Roan exclaims, shocked.

Xiaolian pushes Owen completely behind her.  He is quiet for a moment before saying, softly, "No."

James walks over to Xiaolian and Owen. "Owen," James says calmly, "were you gonna bite Roan?"

"No! I wasn't," he says again, mostly trying to convince himself.

Xiaolian backs up with Owen. She keeps her eyes on James. She _desperately_ wants her sword.

“You definitely were, dude.” Roan tries to calm their tone. “It’s okay, just… _why_?”

"Okay." James puts his hands up in a calming manner. "You weren't going to bite them. But did you want to? Or need to?" His mind is going a million miles an hour.

Cassandra is watching the exchange and holding very still, one hand halfway into her pocket, very wary of whatever is going on here.

Owen hides his face in Xiaolian's hair: he can feel the wind threatening to shift again. " _No,_ it's _fine,_ " he says softly. 

Xiaolian glances at Cassandra. “Take your hand out of your pocket. _Now.”_

"Okay, why don't we all calm down a bit,” James says.

Slowly, Cassandra takes her hand out, pulling her pocket knife along. She raises both hands, showing the object in her palm. “I’m not gonna hurt you or anyone here,” she says, slowly.

Roan pauses. Their hand had been itching to reach for the knife strapped inside their jacket but more than one knife out in the open seemed like a mistake.

The second she sees the knife, Xiaolian can hear the river again. She pushes Owen even further back.

Owen can feel himself about to cry. The _last_ thing he wants to do is hurt anybody.

“Owen. I think I know what you are.” James is resisting the urge to draw his own weapon. But he needs to keep this conversation calm. “How about this. I’ll tell you who I am and why I’m here, and you can tell me who you are, and it will all be fine. No one here wants to hurt anyone.”

“I also vote that Cassandra puts her knife away,” Roan says, “and _then_ we can do confessions.”

“Yes, I agree.” James looks at Cassandra, a pleading look in his eyes.

“Alright, alright,” Cassandra drops the knife unceremoniously to the ground, kicking it so it skids across the floor of the station. “I was just— Fuck, you were all at each other’s throats, I didn’t know what was going to happen, I was just scared! I’m sorry! But yes, please, do explain what _the hell_ you all are.”

“Okay, I’ll go first.” James looks around the gathered group. “My name is James Finn. I research monsters. I came to Willow River to look into the strange things that happen here.”

“I _knew_ there was something here!” Cass blurts out, before she can stop herself. “Shit, sorry. Keep going.”

James smiles, despite the situation. “Yes, I believe that there are monsters here. More specifically,” James glances at Owen, “a flesh eating monster.”

“It’s not me.” Owen says quickly, sounding panicked and defensive. “I didn’t hurt _anyone._ I swear.”

Xiaolian freezes on the word ‘monsters’, and frowns at Owen’s tone. She didn’t like hearing him like that – he was too sweet to sound like that.

“Dude. Monster is pretty harsh. Don’t call people monsters. Especially not kids.” Roan frowns at James. They definitely aren’t vaguely projecting in any way, nope. Totally just going off the vibe from Xiaolian.

“Okay, okay, I believe you,” James says to Owen. “No, Roan, I mean monsters like werewolves and vampires and the creature in your closet. It’s all real. I’m sorry.”

Xiaolian thinks about Zhiqiang, and then— about _Shane._

Roan awkwardly runs a hand through their hair. “Uh yeah. I kinda know that. ‘Monsters’ is still harsh.”

James smiles bitterly at Roan. “It probably is. But most monsters aren’t as controlled as Owen here.”

“You can’t just lump everyone into the same category!” Roan feels their temper rise and clamps down on it quickly, shaking themselves a little bit.

Cassandra speaks in a calm, soft tone. She can see the kid is scared.  “When you say it’s not you, Owen, does it mean you know who it is?”

Owen shrugs at Cass. “…Kind of…”

“No one’s gonna hurt you here,” Cassandra says, glancing at James. “You don’t need to be scared of us.”

Xiaolian suspects otherwise, and is starting to panic, but she stays quiet.  She would really like to grab Owen and just run home.

“I already talked to Banjo about it,” Owen says, his grip on Xiaolian’s arm tightening.

“I… don’t know who Banjo is. Is there a group of hunters here?” James is shocked but it would explain the weirdness of the town.

“Banjo is like, the unofficial go-to person here,” Cassandra explains. “He knows a lot.”

“What the hell kinda name is Banjo?” Roan asks, incredulous.

Xiaolian can hear the water rushing in her head and she can’t stop the gold starting to seep into her eyes. She doesn’t like this—not the people questioning Owen, and certainly not people questioning her town.

James looks at Xiaolian, initially wondering why she was so silent. He sees the gold seeping into her eyes. “Xiaolian… please calm down.”

“Well, he has a first name, I got it the first time I was in town. Can’t remember it now—” Cass is interrupted by James, then turns to look at Xiaolian. “ _What the—_ what is going _on_ here?”

“Xiaolian, it’s alright.” Roan can feel the energy coming off the girl: their protective instincts surge. “James, step away from them.”

“Hey, hey, hey, we’re all good here Xiaolian.” James is getting seriously concerned. “P-please say something.” James ignores Roan’s warning and steps closer to Xiaolian.

Xiaolian’s eyes immediately shift completely to gold. “Get away from me. I don’t know who you people are or what you’re trying to do in my town but you need to back the fuck up.”

“Xiaolian?” Owen lets go of her arm, looking worried.

James stops dead in his tracks. “Xiaolian. Please calm down. I’m not here to change anything. Cassandra isn’t here to hurt anyone. Roan isn’t going to do anything to you or Owen. And Owen is going to be fine. _You_ are going to be fine.” James reaches one hand out to Xiaolian.

Roan tries to gather all their energy: they can feel the power rising inside them and they concentrate on getting inside James’ head, stepping into his thoughts. _No. Stop. Bad idea. Step back._ They attempt to sound like a conscience, persuading James that stepping back is his own idea.

James hears the voice in his head, and immediately recognizes it as Roan’s.  He is caught off guard: there is too much going on around him. He stumbles and stops moving. He turns toward Roan, a confused and overwhelmed look on his face.  He has no idea what to do, he has never had to deal with so many panicking people and he is close to panicking as well.

“James,” Cassandra calls him, cautious. She fears that if anyone makes any sudden movements, hell will break loose. “James, look at me. Let the kids have some air, why don’t you? Come on, let’s all take a deep breath. Let…” She glances at Xiaolian, a shiver running down her spine at the gold in her eyes. “Let’s all try to calm down here. We’re not the enemy, and neither are these kids.”

James is panicking now, like some shield has fallen. His hands are shaking, his eyes dart between everyone, focusing for a second while Cassandra talks, but then he stumbles away from the group, falls on the ground, and puts his head in his hands. He starts mumbling to himself in another language.

Xiaolian doesn’t like that at all. She drops into even more of a defensive stance and starts looking for possible escape routes.

Roan feels exhaustion creep up on them. They lower themselves to the ground as well, too tired to move from where they stand. “Xiaolian. Please. None of us know what the hell is going on. No one is going to hurt you.” They pull their legs under themselves, crossing them.

Azure and gold are starting to seep back into Xiaolian’s vision, just like they did the night before. As she notices this, she panics too, and immediately lets go of whatever power was in her body. She sits down hard, breathing heavily.

Cassandra walks over to James and drops to one knee, touching him on the shoulder. “James?” She whispers, shooting a worried glance towards the others – but she had to start somewhere. “James, it’s okay.”

“ _La ‘astatie , la ‘astatie. Kanat ealaa haqin, kanat ealaa haqin…_ ” James barely registers Cassandra speaking to him.

Roan sighs and drags themself over to James. This meltdown is at least ninety percent their fault so they need to do _something_. They poke James in the upper arm, attempting to distract him. “Jamie? Jamie, I’m really sorry.”

“ _La ‘astatie, hdha kathirun._ She was right about me and I can’t do this and I destroy everything.” James is crying, his speech slightly muffled as the tears leak from his eyes.

“Oh no, buddy,” Cassandra sits down next to him, and puts her arms around him. She brings him close to her, holding him. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s fine, you didn’t destroy anything.” She looks at Roan and mouths, _you okay?_

Roan shrugs at Cassandra. They can feel the guilt clawing at their throat stopping the words from coming out. They poke James in the arm again for lack of something else to do.

Xiaolian, adrenaline levels falling fast, crawls over to the nearest trash can and dry heaves. It hurts.

Owen runs over to Xiaolian, a little scared to touch her. He hovers behind her. “… Xiaolian? Are you okay?” He asks softly.

Xiaolian holds up a finger for ‘give me a sec’ as she continues to heave.

James turns his whole body into Cassandra’s hug. His next words are slightly muffled. “This is a lot. I don’t know what to do.” James has calmed down enough to speak in English again.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to do anything, not right now. Just breathe,” she tells him, voice as soft as it gets. She wants to check on Xiaolian, take her out of there, back to her brother— _oh god_ , her brother will murder them for getting her in that state. But at same time, she doesn’t think they should head into town just yet. Not now. She rocks James, gently, feeling absurdly guilty for maybe provoking all of that with her stupid pocket knife. “Breathe in, breathe out,” she tells James. “It’s gonna be alright. Xiaolian,” Cassandra calls over James’ head. “Are you alright?”

Xiaolian can’t really respond right now. She just shakes her head as she tries to calm down.

 _Well, at least she’s not running away._ “Owen?” Cassandra asks.

Owen looks over at her, thinly masked panic in his eyes. “What?”

“Think you can sit down? Anywhere you like. You can stay next to Xiaolian if you’d like,” she tells him, using the same soft voice she’s been using to calm down James. “It’s alright now. We’re all safe here.”

Owen looks between Xiaolian and Cassandra, fiddling nervously with the hem of his shirt. He shakes his head. “I don’t want to sit.”

Xiaolian finally calms down, taking a deep breath. She looks at Owen. “You don’t have to.”

“That’s cool,” Cass agrees, “you don’t have to. Do whatever feels best for you.” She looks down at James, lowers her voice. “James? You with us?”

“A little.” James doesn’t make any moves to get up, content to just sit in Cassandra’s arms.

“I’m gonna try to stand up straight,” Xiaolian murmurs to Owen, “but I might need to lean on you. Is that okay?”

Owen nods. “Yeah, that’s okay,” he says softly.

Xiaolian straightens up slowly, a hand resting on Owen’s shoulder for support. Her head is still swimming so she rests it gently on his shoulder, too.

Roan eyes Xiaolian worryingly. “You sure you don’t need to sit down? I don’t want you to faint.”

“No, I’m good right now,” she replies.

“Okay,” Cassandra wipes the tears away from James’ face, then continues gently. “I think we all need to have a talk. Just so we can avoid any other episodes like this one. I’ll start,” she looks at each one of them as she says: “I’m sorry for reaching for my knife. I was just scared. I didn’t have any intention or hurting any of you. I still don’t. I think we can help each other, and this town.”

Xiaolian kinda wants to know just who asked for _her_ help, but she keeps it to herself. Instead she whispers to Owen, “I’m sorry if I scared you. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay,” Owen whispers back to her, before saying, slightly more audibly, “I’m sorry I’m… a monster, I guess.”

Xiaolian can’t help but feel angry, but not at Owen. She gently grabs his other shoulder and moves so that she’s directly in front of him. She looks him dead in the eyes. “Owen, I have literally hung out with you for not even a full day, but even so, I know you’re not a monster. You’re the sweetest guy I know.”

“She’s right. Besides, we all have our secrets. You’re… not a monster to me, Owen. You clearly care about your friend,” Cass uses her head to indicate Xiaolian. “Monsters don’t do that.”

“Monster is a bullshit term, kid.” Roan pipes up.

“You literally think fish can talk because we watched Nemo,” Xiaolian continues. “You let me teach you how to shake hands. So what if your dietary needs are…a little unusual? If anything, I’m more scared of vegans than I am of you.” She gently cups his face in her hands. “So please don’t ever call yourself a monster again.”

“I’m sorry I called you a monster, Owen.” James turns to look at the boy: his eyes are red, but his tears have stopped.

Owen hugs Xiaolian. “I’m not going to hurt _anybody_ , I promise.” He looks around at everyone, stopping at Roan, eyes conveying a personal apology for them.

Roan smiles at him, hoping they show that they don’t feel mad or upset about his actions.

Xiaolian hugs back, burying her face in his shoulder. “We know. _I know._ ”

James turns back to Cassandra. “I’m okay now.” He starts to stand up. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Cassandra says, watching everyone. She stays where she is, sitting on the dirt floor of the station. “But I still think we should talk – _all_ of us.”

“Probably.” Roan pauses, contemplating for a moment. “Okay. I’ll go. I… kinda sorta accidentally maybe made a deal with a demon-like creature and now I sorta have… weird magical powers.” Roan rushes the words out. “One of them is a kind of telepathy.” They glance at James again. “I’m really sorry Jamie. You just…wouldn’t stop and Xiaolian was so scared and I just…” Roan trails off, eyes fixed on the ground.

James waves away Roan’s apologies. “No, I… needed to stop. I wasn’t in a good place to help. And…” He looks around the group, “I wasn’t a hundred percent truthful. I do research monsters, but I also hunt them. That’s really why I’m here, to stop the… murderer.”

Roan tenses up again. “You hunt _monsters,_ or you hunt those who hurt others?”

“I thought you guys didn’t like the term monster!” James throws his hands in the air, exasperated. “Monsters, I hunt monsters— but just the ones that hurt people.”

“I’m just quoting you!” Roan says, a little frustrated.  “If you only go after supernatural creatures that hurt others then I think we’ll be okay.”

Cassandra hugs her knees, eyeing the group. She turns to Xiaolian and Owen, “How old are you kids?”

Xiaolian is watching the others, still not feeling very safe.  “I’m eighteen,” she says with a sigh. “I guess I should probably explain the eyes.”

“That would probably be good.” James thinks he has read about something similar in his family’s books, but doesn’t want to jump the gun – he thinks it’s best for Xiaolian to say what she knows.

“Yeah, it was kinda scary, but honestly…it looked pretty cool,” Roan adds.

Xiaolian doesn’t say anything for awhile, trying to figure out what to say. After all, she doesn’t really know what’s happening to her either. “…There was a random old Asian man who gave me a flaming sword and powers and a talking dragon.”

“You have a dragon?!” Roan says excitedly. “Can I meet them?”

James runs one hand through his hair, planting the other hand on his hip. “Hm. That isn’t much to go on, but I think I have a book about that…”

Xiaolian shrugs. “It’s all I’ve got.” She looks at Roan. “Ah, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“No worries.” Roan winces at how excited they got. “I had a dragon phase when I was younger that I never really got over.”

“ _That’s_ a mood,” Xiaolian says, half-smiling.

“Okay, okay, hold on.” Cassandra is trying to digest what she just heard. “You have a dragon? A physical, giant one? And what… exactly can you do? You said you had powers.”

“Yeah. His name is Zhiqiang. As for powers… I don’t really know what they are, since I only just got them.”

“I see. Wow,” Cass stares at her fingers for a second too long. “Dragons. Okay, good to know. Thanks for… uh, sharing. James, do you think you can help her find out more about her powers?”

“Chinese dragon, right?” James asks.

“Yeah,” Xiaolian confirms, “I’m pretty sure. Like ninety-nine point two percent sure.”

“Okay.” James nods and turns to Cassandra. “I can help. I remember reading this. I’ll have to get my books, they’re in my car.”

“That’s good. Really good,” Cassandra says, shooting Xiaolian a smile. Now that everyone is here and being honest, she doesn’t want it to end just yet. But it’s good to know that they’re heading somewhere. “Roan… do you also need help figuring something out? I mean, a deal with a demon… sure is _something_.”

“Yeah, Roan,” James turns to them and makes an exaggerated _Why?_ gesture. “Demon deals are pretty serious.”

Roan blushes. “I sorta thought it was a dream? Like I was just kinda bullshitting with the demon and then I woke up and had weird powers? And then he sent me a hex book a few days later. …He’s kinda a dick.”

Cassandra brushes her hands over her face. This is _a lot_. “A hex book… Are you safe? Is this demon—does he follow you around or something?”

Roan shrugs. “As safe as I’m gonna be, probably. And…not really? He didn’t seem really evil, just like a dickish older brother kind of deal.”

“That’s a relief,” Cassandra says. She looks around the group, studying everyone’s faces.  “And … Owen?  Sorry we … kind of _outed_ you, as it were.  Is there anything you want to share?”

Owen grabs Xiaolian’s hand as he talks, deeply nervous. “I’m not really a _ghoul_ , my mom was… _is_ … a human. Banjo said he thinks I’m half-ghoul.” He pauses, then adds, “… but I do think I know what’s killing people.”

James nods. “Is Banjo safely feeding you?”

“I don’t have to eat that much.” Owen shrugs. “I was telling the truth, too, I _don’t_ hurt people… But yeah, he did feed me.”

“Okay.  You said you know what or who is doing this?” James is prodding as kindly as possible, trying to be kinder than when they’d first met.

Owen nods. “I saw a ghoul… Like, a full, not-a-human-at-all ghoul, in the woods a few days ago before Ryan brought me back to town.”

“Oh, that’s…” James shivers.  Ghouls are hard to take down. “Wait— Ryan? Ryan Bergara? In the forest two nights ago?” He’s remembered that Ryan had said he had a dinner date with someone that night. “What was he doing there?”

Owen just shrugs, looking to Xiaolian for an answer.

Xiaolian frowns. “I thought he was having dinner with my brother…”

“Yeah, I was with him that afternoon,” James says, “He said he had a dinner date.”

Xiaolian’s hands clench and unclench, a nervous habit of hers. “Why would my brother tell me they were having dinner if they weren’t?”

“Looks like we’re not the only ones keeping secrets here,” Cassandra muses, frowning. She stands up and walks over to where her knife had landed, picking it up and pocketing it again.

Xiaolian squeezes Owen’s hands. Why wouldn’t Bolin tell her? She wonders if he has any more secrets…

James nods. “This town has a lot of questions and isn’t willing to give up many answers.” James pauses for a second and looks at each person in the newly assembled group. “But, with all of us working together, I think… I think we can get close. Or at least clos _er_.”

Roan swallows, then nods. “I’m in. Not like I’ve got anything else going on.” And they need to make it up to James for invading his head. Big no-no. Not trying that one again.

Xiaolian bites her lip. She wants to know what’s going on but…she looks at Owen. “What do you want to do?”

Owen shrugs. “I don’t know… If you want me to help I will, I guess.”

She groans. That wasn’t really an answer. “Forget about me for a sec. Do you want to go with them?”

Owen thinks, looking around at all of them. What he _really_ wanted to do was go back home, maybe watch another movie with Xiaolian. Not be tied up in all this. But he also wanted to make these people happy and he wanted to make it up to Roan somehow for trying to eat them, twice.  He shrugs. “I don’t _know._ ”

Xiaolian sighs. “Okay, well, if we help you, James—and that’s _if_ — we need to head back to my house. I have to pick something up.”

“Fine by me,” says Cassandra, shrugging. She looks at the others, waiting to see if anyone’s going to oppose this.

James shrugs, too. “I have to go back to my car anyway.”

Roan gets to their feet and dusts themself down. “Well then. Let’s go?”

“Let’s do this,” Cass says, walking towards the direction they came, keeping an eye on everyone.

Xiaolian nods. “Yeah, let’s go.”  She follows Cassandra, and pulls Owen along as he sticks close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations:  
> "Xiǎo mèimei! Jī sī gěi nǐmen tígōngle gèng duō wúzhī de yóukè! Ràng tāmen zhè cì fù qián, è?" [Little sister! Keith has sent you more clueless tourists! Make them pay you this time, eh?]  
> “Wǒ zài xiǎng sānshí měiyuán! Gàosù tāmen wǒ huì mǎshàng xiàlái.” [I’m thinking thirty dollars! Tell them I’ll be right down.]  
> "Dà! Kuài diǎn, wǒ de ménláng shàng yǒusān gè mòshēng rén..." [Great! Hurry up, there's three strangers on my porch...]  
> “Wǒ rènshì tā. Tā yòng lìng yī zhǒng yǔyán yǔ Shane jiāotán.” [I know him. He was talking to Shane in a different language.]  
> "Zhēn de... xiànzài hěn yǒuqù." [Really now ... that's interesting.]  
> “Hóng fā nǚláng shì wài xīng nǚrén ba? Wǒ kěyǐ bāng tā ma?” [The redhead is the alien lady right? Am I allowed to help her?]  
> "Nà jiù duìle. Wǒ wàngle." [That's right. I'd forgotten.]  
> "...Wǒ xiāngxìn nǐ, xiǎo mèimei. Xiǎoxīn. Zhǐyào gàosù tāmen tāmen xūyào zhīdào shénme." [...I trust you, little sister. Be careful. Only tell them what they need to know.]  
> “Dāngrán. Wǒ xiànzài zǒu chūqùle. Wǒ ài nǐ.” [Of course. I’m heading out now. I love you.]
> 
> “La ‘astatie , la ‘astatie. Kanat ealaa haqin, kanat ealaa haqin…” [I can’t, I can’t. She was right, she was right.]  
> “La ‘astatie, hdha kathirun." [I can’t, this is too much.]


	4. Evening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hover over italicised foreign language text for translations! (Mobile and tablet users, please see the ending notes.) These are not written by native speakers by any means, please forgive the inevitable terrible errors if you are a speaker!

After exchanging phone numbers and agreeing to meet later that day, they do all indeed meet up at the Sidekick Bar and Grill, where they take over a corner booth, order chicken, and begin to plan their next move. The Sidekick has other clientele, being dinnertime, but luckily the bartender Eugene mentioned – a short woman with a black pixie cut exuding gregariousness – is starting a set of rock tunes with her band, so they will most definitely not be overheard.

“Okay,” James sets down three large leather-bound books onto the table. “Where do we want to start? Ghouls?” James points at a book labeled اللحم الأكل. “Or Xiaolian’s powers?” He points at a book labeled التنين وصلاحياتهم. James flips open the third book to an empty page and pulls out a pen.

Sipping her drink, Cassandra’s having a hard time keeping her eyes off the band, but she looks back at James, and then at Xiaolian to say, “Maybe Xiaolian’s powers first?”

“Yeah, I feel like making sure we know what everyone can do, and making sure Xiaolian is okay, is the first priority. Then we can get to the thing in the woods eating folk,” Roan says.

Xiaolian chokes on the piece of chicken in her mouth at Roan’s causal reference to eating people.  James pats Xiaolian on the back to help dislodge the chicken.  “Jesus Christ, you can’t say stuff like that so casually.” She wipes the tears away, but doesn’t hesitate to keep eating. “What do you guys want to know?”

Owen stays quiet, just kind of… sitting there while everybody eats. When Roan brings up the “thing in the woods eating folk”, he shifts uncomfortably, staring intently at the wall.

“Well,” James picks up the book labeled التنين وصلاحياتهم. “This is a book on dragons. The title translates to “Dragons and their Powers. Now you said it’s a Chinese dragon, right?”

Xiaolian nods. “Yeah. He’s azure and gold.”

James nods and flips through the book, stopping on a page with the heading China, and running his finger down the page. “Ah ha!” He taps his finger on an entry. “Blue and gold.” 

The entry reads: “blue and gold dragon – Azure Dragon – strong connection to water; historical references to 龙的十二房屋 / Lóng de shí’èr fángwū, Twelve Houses of the Dragon (dragon cult? need more data)”.

“Okay, so your dragon is connected to water, so that could be a source of your power or a way to channel it.  It’s also connected to the Twelve Houses of the Dragon, which is something that has been kept hidden from my family. The most we know is that it might be a cult.” James writes a paraphrased version of what he said into the empty page of the third book.

“Water? That makes sense since I can hear the river in my head whenever I use my powers.” She leans over to look at the page. “Lóng de shí’èr fángwū?”

“Yeah, have you heard of it before?” James looks up from his book at Xiaolian.

“I-it sounds familiar but I’m not sure why.”

“Have you ever tried… uh, _controlling_ water?” Cassandra muses

Xiaolian looks at Cassandra like she’s even crazier than she thought. “No, I didn’t think this was _Avatar: The Last Airbender_.”

Cassandra shrugs and looks back at the band. “Worth a shot, in my opinion.”

“Besides, I think Zhiqiang would have told me if I could. Or,” she says, rolling her eyes, “at least he would have made some vague ass reference to it like ‘you are the water and waer is you’.”

James chuckles, “Yeah, that’s usually how guides work. Saying vague shit and taking all the credit when someone figures it out.”

“Oh! Wait. Is that why you asked me about dragons when we met…?” Owen asks Xiaolian, finally paying attention to the conversation again.

Xiaolian blushes. “Ha ha, yeah…”

James sets down the book and rests his arms against the pages. “So now we know that your powers are tied to water and your emotions, kinda obvious after the… incident.”

 “ _Incident,_ ” Xiaolian mimics, making air quotes.  “Spooky.”

James gives a dad look at Xiaolian. “It’s a serious incident.”

Xiaolian puts on a serious face. “Of course. The most serious. Nothing more serious.”

“Alright,” Cassandra says around a mouthful, then swallows it down and continues: “ghouls. What about them? And what about him?” She uses her fork to point at Owen.

Roan frowns and bats at Cassandra’s fork. “Don’t point, it’s rude. And he has a name.” Roan turns and smiles at Owen comfortingly.

Owen smiles gratefully at Roan, before looking at Cassandra. “I didn’t even know I was part ghoul until Banjo told me, don’t ask me any questions.”

James hums and opens the other book. “Ghouls…” James flips through the book for a minute before landing on the page titled Ghouls. “So,” James starts, “ghouls are extremely resilient, especially when they are eating regularly. Most ghouls will eat the whole body— meaning that this ghoul is eating often if it leaves any part of the body behind. They are very slow, and their only way to attack is through biting. They are a scavenger species, so their prey needs to be unable to move far or fast. Ghouls rely exclusively on scent. And to… kill them you need to, uh…” James makes a cutting motion across his neck.

“Decapitation?” Cassandra puts down the fork and leans back on her seat, brushing her face. God, she’s tired. “Fuck. Well, at least they’re slow. We just need to capture it. _Just_ ,” she repeats, making air quotes.

Owen listens, feeling pretty uneasy about the whole conversation. He knew realistically that none of these people would kill him, but it didn’t change the fact that they were discussing the logistics of it.

Xiaolian was trying to ignore the discussion, because she wasn’t going to let this meal go to waste just because these guys wanted to discuss gore at the table.

For the record, Chris switched to Szechuan seasoning for dinner.

“Yes, well, capturing ghouls is very difficult. We’re gonna need to figure out how to lure it out.” James looks over at Owen. “And keep Owen from falling into whatever trap we set.”

“I’m not a ghoul.” He says adamantly. “I’m _part_ ghoul.”

“We know,” James says reassuringly, “I just want to make sure that we don’t accidentally hurt you.”

Xiaolian frowns. “Whatever you guys plan on doing, Owen has to be a hundred percent comfortable with it. If he’s not, then I’m taking the both of us out.”

James nods in agreement. “That’s absolutely fair.”

“I’m okay.” Owen says, mostly reassuring himself. He feels a little nauseous, but that was probably mostly anxiety.

Xiaolian gives Owen a thumbs-up before going back to eating.

The band on stage segues into an acoustic set as some of them pause to eat. Apparently, the bartender has eclectic taste. It’s a bit like Adele crossed with Mumford and Sons. It’s…interesting.

“Owen,” Cassandra tries to look casual, glancing from the band to the table and back to the band. “What… Uh, this is a weird question, but what would you get your attention? I mean…” She turns to James. “What are ghouls attracted to? Blood?”

“Uh.” Owen shifts uncomfortably, hesitating. “… Dead bodies…?”

James shrugs. “Yeah, it’s pretty much dead bodies. Blood is more for vampires.”

Xiaolian groans. At least she’d managed to finish her food before they started talking about bodies.

“Alright. I guess we’re stealing bodies from the clinic,” Cassandra says, simply as ever.

James takes a bite of chicken. He’s got the thousand-yard stare. “I guess so.”

“Wait, you’re just allowed to do that?” Owen asks, confused.

“Not really, but we’re going to have to anyway.” James eats more chicken. 

Roan furrows their brow, and then shrugs, eating some chicken. If the worst they do is steal a dead body, it’ll be fine.  Meanwhile, Xiaolian mouths ‘what the fuck?’ to herself. This isn’t what she thought she would doing with her life.

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Cassandra sits up straighter. “Okay. We’re actually in agreement. So,” she pulls out her phone and opens the map of Willow River she has at the ready. “We need to figure out how many people work there and what their shifts are like, the layout of the building, any back entrances and, if possible, wherever the circuit breaker box is.”

“This is a pretty small town, I don’t think they will have much security. I mean, who wants to rob from a clinic?” James takes another bite of chicken. “Except for the dude in the later _Saw_ movies, who is basically half the reason Jigsaw exists, but I’m pretty sure the writers knew they were just writing some bullshit…” James shakes his head slightly to get back on track. “Anyway, I don’t think this will be too hard.”

“Question. Anyone here know how to fly a helicopter by chance?” Xiaolian asks, raising a drumstick.

Roan blinks slowly at the question. “Why— why on earth would we need a helicopter?” They pause. “Also, no, I can’t fly one.”.

“Listen,” Xiaolian says, seriously.  “In almost every single movie that has to do with saving a town or city or solving a mystery that has some sort of crazy killer being, there is always a scene where the group needs to get in a helicopter to survive. _Aliens versus Predators, San Andreas, Jaws 2, Twilight Zone: The Movie._ ”

Roan looks unimpressed.  “Okay so number one, those are movies. And number two, we have no reason to suspect we need a helicopter yet. We don’t have a big enough area to justify one. The woods are too thick for a helicopter to be useful. If we were by the sea we’d definitely need one.”

Xiaolian shrugs. “If I die because we don’t have a helicopter, that’s on you guys.” She mumbles to herself, “Dwayne The Rock Johnson would never do this to me.”

Roan rolls their eyes fondly before pausing, dots connecting in their brain. “Hang on. Owen, if you’re only attracted to dead bodies, why did you try to eat me? I’m 90% certain I’m not secretly dead.”

Owen just shrugs. “I don’t know. But I really _don’t_ want to hurt you. I promise.”

“Don’t worry, I trust you. I was just curious.”  Roan smiles, then looks across the table at James.  “Any ideas? Maybe we don’t need to steal a dead body and I can just hang about in the woods till the ghoul decides to have a snack?”

Cassandra hesitates. “I mean, it sounds like a good idea, but I don’t know…” She looks at James, “Can we make sure they don’t get hurt in the process? I don’t want to put a college kid at risk here. How old are you again?” she asks Roan.

James thinks for a second. “Well, you could smell good because technically you are right around half dead.” He takes a bite of chicken. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea. Honestly, stealing a body sounds safer.”

“I’m sorry, I’m _what_?” Roan’s voice goes shrill on the last word. “And, um, I’m twenty-two,” they add in a calmer tone of voice, glancing at Cassandra.

James turns to look at Roan, setting down his chicken for a second. “Roan, you sold your soul. That usually puts someone right at half dead.”

Roan considers James’ words and then shrugs. “Yeah, I suppose that makes sense.” They go to cover up their slightly shaking hands by eating more chicken, but discover they’ve eaten it all.

Xiaolian frowns at James. “Jeez, you sure know how to make people feel good.” She smiles at Roan. “Besides I’m pretty sure calling someone half dead is kinda stupid. I mean, everybody is some percentage dead no matter what. I’m like what, twenty-three percent dead if I live to be eighty? So, don’t worry too much.”

“Whatever the math may be… The folks from the hunting group still haven’t come back, right? And we may be working on a tight schedule here if they’re somehow stranded, or need help.” Cassandra looks at Owen. “So, you think the ghoul in the woods would be attracted by Roan, too? I know you’re not _entirely_ ghoul but… you do feel instinctively attracted to them, correct?”

Owen shrugs. “Yeah. It might work…?” he says, “but the ghoul in the woods is _really_ different. And I don’t want Roan to get hurt…”

Xiaolian grips the edge of the table, knuckles going white. She’s terrified of the thought of the people she loves in danger, fighting some ghoul out in the woods.

“I don’t want that either, friend,” Cassandra reassures him. “What we need is a plan. And a backup plan, because then if things go to shit, we can rest assured that no one is getting out of it hurt.” Cassandra lowers her gaze, thoughtful, biting her bottom lip. This needs to _work_ in so many different ways.  “I say that stealing the body is plan A, just stomping through the forest like the hunting group is plan B, and Roan as bait is plan C.”

“…When I was out there alone I just kind of… saw it. And it didn’t try to hurt me or anything,” Owen says. “It might try to hurt the rest of you.”

James nods. “That could end up being helpful.  I think we should focus on getting a dead body first. We need to plan how to get into the clinic— _without_ a helicopter.” James looks at Xiaolian.  “Normally I would suggest finding the early blueprints for the building but those are usually stored in a library and this place doesn’t have one, so we may have to wing it slightly.”

Cassandra wipes at her mouth with a napkin, shaking her head. “Blueprints are no use. We need to get out of there carrying a body, there’s no point in finding secret passages or underground solutions. No, what we need is a back door, and worst-case scenario… the front door. We just need to A, figure out a distraction to get whoever is on the night shift out of the building, and B, maybe cut the power off so even if the distraction doesn’t hold, we can hide and possibly avoid being seen.”

Xiaolian sighs. “You guys are wild. Making plans without even asking for input from someone who lives in this town.” She points at James. “Also, a helicopter is definitely needed.”

James shakes his head, mumbling “it’s not gonna happen” under his breath.

“Anyway,” Xiaolian continues, “we should just do it at night.”

“…What’s a helicopter?” Owen asks Xiaolian softly, hoping nobody overhears him.

She leans over and whispers in his ear. “It’s a machine people use to fly. I’ll show you pictures later.”

“I mean, I was gonna suggest you guys who live in town should _be_ the distraction, but well,” Cass takes a swig of her drink, turning to the band again. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’m saying we should go at night,” Xiaolian says, insistently, “because there’s no night shift.”

“Oh, that’s good!” Roan exclaims.

“If there’s no night shift, we might as well do it tonight,” Cassandra says, turning back and looking around the table. “Do you know the building? Any back doors?” She asks Xiaolian.

“I don’t really go there that often, but there is a back door…”

* * *

 

Roughly three hours later, the last dim lights of dusk are receding into the overcast sky. The roads are silent and dusty; all the windows on the main strip are dark except for the Sidekick, which stays open late on Saturdays. Midway down the main strip, near Banjo’s still-closed general store, the newly formed group of…friends?…have gathered behind the Willow River Medical Clinic, which says, on the front door, that Dr Phyr is in on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, and Dr Gundish is in on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The clinic is closed on Sundays.

The best way in and out appears to be the back door in front of them, which has a handle and a deadbolt; there are no windows on the back wall. As Cassandra looks over the door, she notices a small bundle of wires carefully tucked alongside the door frame which then disappear into the building: presumably an alarm system of some sort. 

“Hang on.” Cassandra extends a hand to stop anyone from getting any closer and points to the bundle of wires. “Anyone here knows how to disable alarms?”

Roan shrugs. “Just straight up cutting them always works in the movies.”

James pulls out a small knife and kneels next to the alarm. “Okay, but which wire?”

“Red. No, blue. No, what colours are there?” Roan asks.

“Maybe just cut them all?” Xiaolian wonders.

“That sounds like a good enough bet.” James grabs all the wires and prepares to cut through them all in one swipe. “Any objections?” James looks at the group.

“It’s not like we have a better idea.”  Roan nods.

“None. Do it!” Cassandra gives a thumbs-up.

James shrugs and cuts through the collected wire in one clean motion.  Nothing _seems_ to happen, at least so far. Still quiet.

“That either worked or they have a silent alarm,” he says.

“I’m guessing silent,” Cassandra drops to her knees next to James, inspecting the lock next. “Can you work that, too?”

James shrugs, “I’ve read about the technique so I could try, but I’ve never really had a chance to practice.”

“Tonight is your lucky night, my friend.” She nods towards the door

“Okay, does anyone have a bobby pin?”

“Oh, me!” Roan digs into that weird little pocket on jeans that no one really knows the point of and pulls out two bobby pins, handing one over to James. “Ta-da!”

“Thanks.” James takes the bobby pin and bends it out so it makes a long wire. He picks the lock, quietly mumbling the steps to himself.  At last, he hears the click that tells him the door is unlocked. It’s open…time to be bodysnatchers.  He stands and pushes open the door.

The inside of the clinic is dark and quiet. There doesn’t seem to be any beeping or indication of an alarm. The back door of the clinic opens into a small hallway, with one door off to the left before making a right turn.  James turns on his phone’s flashlight and enters the building.

Roan follows suit, grabbing their phone and following James in. They try their hardest to ensure the _Mission: Impossible_ theme stays _in_ side their head and doesn’t become something they’re humming out loud. “So, I vote we go through the door. I figure bodies are kept behind doors, right?” Roan makes sure their voice stays at a whisper.

James shines his light at the door and looks for a plaque next to it.  It’s unmarked.  “Good enough bet,” he whispers.

“Maybe somewhere with a cold chamber?” Cass pulls her phone out too, but keeps her flashlight turned to their feet, trying not to make the place too bright.

Xiaolian tried to stick close to Roan. This was feeling too much like a horror movie for her tastes.  Owen was clinging to Xiaolian’s arm, very worried about actually going inside.

“I personally vote that James goes in first,” Xiaolian says.

James steps forward, opens the unmarked door, and steps inside.  Unfortunately, it’s just a storage room. Looks like office supplies on one half, sealed medical supplies on the other.  He scans the room with his flashlight before turning around and walking down the hallway.

Cass follows, trying to hear for anything that would alarm them. The clinic is silent, and everything is dark. They do seem to have successfully disabled the alarm … and _possibly_ all the electronics. The hallway turns and leads to a longer hallway, with a couple doors on either side. They can sort of see a larger room at the end of the hallway, but it’s quite dark.  “Should we split?” she asks.  “Two of us try the doors on the left, two try the doors on the right? We’re looking for any room that looks like it contains a cold chamber of sorts.”

James nods. “Okay. You, Owen, and Xiaolian go in those two rooms. Roan and I will check the other two.”

“Okay!” Cass goes for the first door, looking back to see Owen and Xiaolian following.  It is marked Dr. Phyr, MD.  “It’s an office,” she says over her shoulder before opening the door. She doesn’t step in, but peeks inside.  Standard doctor’s office. There’s an examining table, a small desk with a computer on it, some medical equipment on the walls, and a couple wall-mounted cupboards.  Cassandra nopes out of there and indicates the next door to Xiaolian and Owen, which is unmarked.

Xiaolian takes a deep breath before she grabs the handle and kinda throws the door open, revealing a pitch-black staircase, leading down.  “God, if you’re hearing me right now I want to say that I’m sorry for the time I cut holes in Bolin’s pants. Please don’t let me die.” She takes a single step down, hand going to the hilt of her sword.

Owen looks over at Cass, worried. “… We should follow her, right?”

Cassandra hesitates, looking at Owen and then at Xiaolian’s back going down. “Do you want me to go first, Xiaolian?” Not that she’s trying to be braver than she looks, but she doesn’t want to put the girl through anything either… She looks over at James. “We found stairs. I guess we’re going down.”

“It’s fine, I’m already in the front.” She starts heading down.

“Cool. We’re gonna check out these rooms, then follow you guys down.” James walks over to a door, which reads Dr. Gundish, MD.

“Are we just finding the body or are we looking for other clues too? Cause if it’s just the body, I doubt it’s in an office,” Roan says.

James pauses and turns to Roan. “You’re right, this isn’t Scooby Doo. I’ll just quickly check the room out.” James opens the door and looks in for a minute.  It’s a standard doctor’s office – desk, examining table, equipment, computer, cupboards. There is a bowl of what look like plums on the desk, too.

James closes the door, after resisting the urge to take and eat a plum like an asshole, and walks to the last unchecked room, which is finds is labeled “Lab”. He turns to Roan. “Promising.” He opens the door and looks inside.

Unfortunately, “lab” seems to mean “not-morgue”: the room is half full of analysis equipment, and the other half (close to the door) is a small desk and a couple of chairs. Clearly a place for analyzing samples from patients.

“Okay,” he says with a sigh, “not promising.”

“Creepy stairs it is, I guess,” Roan says.

Xiaolian’s standing on the first step, staring down into the pitch-black darkness, one hand on the hilt of her sword.

It sure is creepy.

She takes a deep breath before she pulls her sword out of the sheath.  It takes a moment, because she is nervous, but after a couple seconds the flames lick up along the side of the blade – not too high, just enough to see the stairs. They look more like lapping waves right now than flames.

The stairs lead down to a door.

“Cool, cool, this isn’t terrifying at all.” She goes down the rest of the stairs and grabs the handle, hesitating to open it.

It doesn’t zap her or anything. Cold metal handle on a cold metal door.

“Did her sword just… catch on fire?” Cassandra mutters to no one in particular, a few steps behind her still.

James shrugs. “Swords do that sometimes.”

“…They do?” Owen asks, obviously not knowing how swords usually work.

James chuckles. “You guys have a lot to learn.”

Xiaolian finally pushes the door open.  It swings open noiselessly, clearly well-oiled. The room on the other side is just as dark as anything else, though the low light from Xiaolian’s sword glints off a number of things in the room – presumably metal or glass. Close enough to be seen are the edge of what looks like a desk, with a couple piles of neatly stacked paper on top, and a set of shelves directly on the inside wall, right next to where the door opens. The desk is further in. Beyond that, the room is dark, apart from the little glints of light: it seems like quite a large room, probably as big as the entire floor above.

James points his flashlight on the walls, looking for something morgue-like.

The bright light from James’ phone illuminates the room considerably better: it is about half the size of the upper floor. Behind the desk is another wall of shelves (full of boxes) and closed cabinets; there is also a large sink, an emergency eyewash station, and directly across from the stairs at the far end of the room, several large fridges. To the right of the stairs, in what would be the middle of the room if it were the actual size of the full upper floor, sits a large operating table with extra light fixtures strung along the ceiling as well as what looks like an adjustable arm with a camera and microphone. Along the final wall, behind the operating table, are two doors, both heavy and metal.

“I don’t know if it’s the flashlight but this place is way creepier than I thought,” Roan says.

“Well, I mean,” James talks as he walks forward, not touching anything yet, “medical places are creepy in the dark, and we know there are dead bodies here.” He examines the operating table. “It’s enough to freak anyone out.”

Cassandra walks around too, mostly going by the light the others are providing, but using her phone to check things that are closer to her. “Do you figure it’s behind those doors?” she asks, again, to no one in particular.  She finds a computer workstation tucked in a corner beside the cabinets, and sees that neither of the large doors is marked.

“Yeah, either behind those doors or in the fridge.” James walks to the fridges, but hesitates to open them.

Xiaolian peeks around James at the doors. “Hmmmm… don’t like that.”

None of the fridges seem to be locked at all. That being said, James _can_ hear a faint humming of electricity as he approaches them.  He takes a breath, closing his eyes to steady himself, then steps closer to one of the fridges and opens it.

No light turns on inside the fridge as he opens it, but it is cold, and full of racks of hanging bags of dark liquid which look to be hermetically sealed.  He closes the fridge and turns to the group. “I think the fridges are full of blood.”

Cassandra immediately looks over to Owen, worried.

 “That’s totally not weird at all.” Xiaolian walks to the other doors. “Maybe we should check all the fridges?”

James sees Cassandra shoot a worried look at Owen. He catches her eye and tries to give her a reassuring look.

Cassandra gives James a tiny nod. Well, if the Monster Guy thinks it’s safe, then it is. “Good idea, Xiaolian,” she reaches one of the fridges too, opening it.  This one is full of vials, organized by size and the colour of their little lids; they all sit in little boxes with circular holes on top, so they stand straight.

Xiaolian opens the fridge in front of her.  This one, the last one, has some vials in it, a few closed boxes, and quite a few bottles of varying shapes and sizes.

“Nothing.” Xiaolian closes the door and turns to James.

“Okay, now the doors.” James walks over to the doors and opens one.

This first door opens into what looks like a … library? Or maybe a personal lab? Or both? There’s a desk, a computer, the walls are covered in bookshelves – which also have bottles and jars on them – and it … it really doesn’t look like a doctor’s study. It looks like something out of an eccentric university professor’s study – one who teaches biology, chemistry, anatomy, maybe even archaeology. Cross Indiana Jones with Dr. Frankenstein and you’ll have a decent idea.  The desk is meticulously organized, as are all the shelves: this is not a sloppy or disorganized person’s room. There is a small stack of manila file folders on the desk, as well as a couple of books and a jar; the flat-screen monitor is facing away from the door.

The room goes back further than you’d think, the shelves going from a preponderance of books to a preponderance of jars and bottles, and far enough back in the room that it’s not _quite_ visible with James’ flashlight is … possibly another operating table? and _possibly_ a pair of large doors with bars across them?

James squints and takes a couple steps into the office.

Yep. Definitely an extra table, and definitely two very locked doors. One has at least five locks on it, besides the thick and heavy bar across it, and the other has two locks plus the bar, and both are covered in runes.

Xiaolian pushes James a little further in so she can get inside the room too. “Whoa, this is cool.”

James walks across the room to examine the doors. He doesn’t touch anything and moves very carefully through the room.

The doors are a little taller than your average door, and at least a foot wider. It is hard to tell what they are made of – they are smooth, but almost pitch-black now that James is up close. It’s almost like the light is sucked into them. The runes he saw from across the room are etched into the doors, and the grooves are smooth enough to reflect the light. He recognizes a number of different runic systems, all seemingly thrown together in a hodge-podge of lettering that makes no sense: there’s Old Norse, Phoenician, Aramaic, and other ancient alphabets … but there’s also recognizable Greek, Arabic, Hangul, katakana, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Sanskrit … and that’s not counting the dozens upon dozens of shapes that he does not recognize in the slightest. The letters run in neat rows, tightly packed, across the entirety of both doors.

“Holy shit…” James whispers as he reaches his hand out to trace over the runes.

They really are quite gorgeous. The lines are perfect. Must have been laser-cut into whatever this door is made of.

“I’m gonna sound dumb, but…” Cassandra is in the room now, but she’s way back, watching James with worried eyes. “Fuck it. Is there _any_ reason anyone would keep bodies hidden behind… those?” She means the huge doors and the many, many locks.

“I mean…” James runs his hands through his hair. “Maybe? This is… obviously something weird. And I can only understand like, two lines of it.”

“And can you tell what those two lines mean?”

James leans closer to the door and puts the flashlight close to the Arabic text.

As he looks more closely, he finds a few syllables scattered amongst the lines: there’s a غ, a ف, a س … it takes some hunting, but he finally finds a full word, سماء, “sky” – it’s frustratingly piecemeal, like someone’s written all the words with a mix of letters from different alphabets, and the whole thing’s in scriptio continua: there are no spaces, no breaks, just steady text.

James grows visibly frustrated. “It says sky and… It’s all just a bunch of letters.” James turns to look at Cassandra. He has a very serious, half freaked out, half frustrated look in his eyes. “There’s gotta be something serious behind these doors.”

“I vote we leave the spooky doors alone,” Roan says, “I’d rather we all stay alive. Spooky doors usually mean someone’s gonna die.”

James nods.  “I agree. Don’t touch the doors. There could be magic on them. Some serious shit could happen.”

“Alright,” Cassandra is alarmed, and her voice cracks a little.  She tries again, trying for a more firm tone. “Alright, we should step back then. But first…” She walks over to the desk and tries to turn on the screen, looking down at the documents on the desk. “I wonder whose room this is.”

As Cassandra approaches the desk, flashlight playing over the desk, she sees a small nameplate on a leather-bound notebook with a small padlock: the nameplate reads Dr. Domhnall Phyr, MD. She also sees that the labels on the file folders read “ghoul”, “zombie”, “wendigo”, and “misc. cannibalistic”; the handwriting is a tight copperplate cursive. The bottle and jar are opaque glass, and the labels are handwritten in the same script – but apparently in some sort of cipher, as the words make no sense. The small stack of books contains the titles “Dakelh Legends and Folklore”, “Advanced Electrical Circuitry for UFO Defense”, and one in a language she doesn’t recognize. As the monitor turns on, a single line of green text appears on the screen, which reads:

INTRUDERS LOGGED.

Xiaolian walks over to Cassandra. “What did you find?” She looks at the screen. “…oh fuck.”

“That didn’t sound like a good oh fuck,” Roan says darkly.

“What’s wrong…?” Owen asks, also coming over.

“We gotta go!” Cassandra says hurriedly.  She takes as many pictures as she can of the stuff on the table and tells the others: “They know we’re here. Come on!” She dashes for the door.

“Wh-what?  We need the dead body!” James protests as he follows Cassandra out anyway.

“Oh, don’t worry, we’re getting that body.” She goes straight for the second door, they one they haven’t been to yet.

Xiaolian grabs Owen’s hand and pulls him close. “You ready to run?”

Owen nods, squeezing her hand. He was still a little confused, but realizing they _definitely_ needed to leave.

James turns to Xiaolian and Owen. “Leave, run. I don’t know if anyone is coming but you two can’t get caught. We will take care of this and find you guys later.”

Xiaolian nods. “You got it. Be careful.” Xiaolian turns and runs up the stairs, making sure she kept a tight grip on Owen’s hand. Owen lets Xiaolian lead the way, following after her.  They exit without issues – apart from the fact that it’s dark. It’s still quiet (apart from whatever racket the others are making). Nothing else in the clinic seems to have power.  She glances around before she starts taking off in the direction of her house.

“Is everyone gonna be okay?” Owen asks Xiaolian, a little out of breath.

“They’re adults,” Xiaolian replies. “I _think_ they know what they’re doing.”

Cassandra swings the other door open and a blast of cold air hits them. Definitely cold storage. Definitely the right place.  Once the mist of cold clears, they can see two walls of drawers, one on either side of the door. There’s about eight feet between the two walls – just enough for a shelf long enough for a body.  The fronts of the drawers have clips on them; one has a clipboard hanging from it.

 “Bingo,” Cassandra says to herself. She goes straight for the drawer with the clipboard and opens it: it slides smoothly down the rails and reveals, sure enough, a dead body. Well. Two-thirds of a dead body. More or less.

Once James sees Xiaolian and Owen disappear up the stairs, he turns around into the freezer near Cassandra. He looks at the dead body. “What the fuck are we gonna do.”

“How the fuck do you steal a body?” Roan asks, at a loss.

“Well, we got two options,” Cass says, staring at the body and trying to think. “We either carry it on our back or we use a slab. An operating table. The thing is, we used stairs to get down here, so we need to get it _upstairs_ first.”

“So, we have to carry it,” James looks at the body. He really doesn’t want to get any of the body’s … anything …  on his nice coat. “J-just grab it. I’ll carry the bottom of… what’s left.”  For reference: the body is missing the right leg from the knee down, the entire right arm, and chunks out of its torso and shoulders, as well as most of the face. It has been considerably cleaned up, but it’s … still not pleasant.

“We can definitely do it together. I don’t think I can do it myself,” she says, finally looking up. She looks over James’ shoulder, finding Roan’s eyes. “Roan, can you see if you can find a body bag? Or any bag big enough for that. Anything. Quick.”

“Okay. Body bag. I got this.” Roan looks around the room, hoping to just see a body bag lying somewhere. They don’t really want to risk opening stuff.

Unfortunately, Roan sees … absolutely nothing. Dr. Phyr keeps a tidy morgue.

“Shit. So,” Roan says, “I can’t see one. Do I need to actually open drawers? Cause I already sold my soul to one demon, I don’t have much left to offer.”

James walks over to the body and grabs one of its legs. “Just hook your arms around it’s armpits. We will carry it up stairs, I’ve got a sheet in my car but _we need to go now._ ”

Armpit. Let’s just be clear here. Arm _pit_.

“This is the grossest thing I have ever done,” groans Roan.

Cass helps Roan lift the upper half of the body, using a hand to close the drawer. She urges them out of the room and up the stairs, holding the weight when they come across doors so that Roan can open and close them. “Please tell me your car is nearby,” she says to James.

James struggles a little under the weight. “Uh, yeah. Over there.” He nods his head over to an old gray five-seater car parked nearby.

The clinic, as they leave, remains silent and dark. The doors close quietly behind them, and there seems to be no one around outside.  James leads the group over to his car. It takes a minute for James to get his keys out of his pocket to unlock the car and get the dead remains into the trunk of the car. James pulls a sheet out from the back seat and wraps the body up as best as he can. “Ah, good enough.” James slams the trunk shut. He jogs to the driver’s side, saying, “Quick, get in, we need to leave.” James says to Cassandra and Roan.

Cassandra does as she’s told, hopping in on the passenger seat. “Where are we going? Should we just drive to the woods where the body was found?”

“I suggest grabbing the kids first,” Roan chimes in.

James pulls out of the parking lot. “No, not the woods, that could attract the ghoul before we are ready. The kids might know somewhere we can hide it, ‘cause I’m getting that slab of meat out of my car ASAP.  Can one of you call Xiaolian?”

“On it.”  Roan fishes their phone out their pocket, scrolling through to find Xiaolian’s contact, quickly hitting dial and hoping she answers the phone.

Xiaolian slows down to a stop, almost to her house. She thanks the gods that she remembered to put her phone on vibrate when she sees it’s Roan calling her. She accepts the call. “Hey, you guys out?”

“Yeah, made it out, got the body. And now we’re just trying to figure out exactly what to do with it. Where are you guys and we’ll come get you?”

“We’re literally only like two, three minutes down the road.”

“So basically just drive and we’ll see you. Excellent. Catch you soon, stay safe.” Roan turns to James and Cass. “They’re just down the road, drive and we’ll see them.”

“What’s happening?” Owen asks Xiaolian.

“They finished and they’re coming to get us. How are you feeling?”

Owen takes a moment to think about it, and shrugs. “Okay…? I’m just confused about… A lot of things.”

“Once we get in the car, you can start asking questions. Okay?”

He nods.

James sees Xiaolian and Owen on the side of the road and pulls over. “Hop in!”

Xiaolian helps Owen get in first before hopping in after him. She buckles him in.  Owen gives Xiaolian a small smile, grabbing her hand again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations:  
> اللحم الأكل [flesh-eating]  
> التنين وصلاحياتهم [dragons and their powers]


	5. Night - I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ready to fight an arch-ghoul? _Let's fight an arch-ghoul._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there's some gore in here, because it's a monster fight. Just so you're warned!

The streets of Willow River are almost creepily quiet. The last dim grey light of dusk has fully disappeared: it is firmly dark. There are street lights on the main drag, but they’re the old orange kind, and they don’t throw a whole lot of light except for right underneath them. Once you get off main street, the lights are a block apart, at least. There aren’t many lights on in houses, either, and the noise of the highway is far off, the sound of a passing car or semi a hushed, wind-like occurrence.

It’s been a still day, mostly, but now the wind is picking up, beginning to clear the cloud cover that’s hung over the town all day. It isn’t a strong wind, just a light breeze; the nearly full moon is slowly peeking out from behind the clouds, bathing the town and close-encroaching forest in dappled moonlight.

A lovely night for hunting an archghoul.

Owen speaks up after a minute or so of quiet driving. “…What was that place…?”

“The morgue?” James responds. “It’s where people store dead bodies until they decide what to do with them.”

“…Oh.” Owen pauses for a minute. “You can just take them? Nobody gets mad at you?”

Cassandra looks at James from the corner of her eyes. She doesn’t answer, trying to hide a smile.

“Ah, no, not really. We are kinda breaking some rules right now.” James looks at Owen through the rear-view mirror.

“Oh. That’s why we’re running.” He nods, and looks around the car for a moment, before tugging at the seatbelt. “Do I have to have this strap?”

“Yes,” Cass pipes in, tugging at her own seatbelt, “we all do. Safety reasons.”

“Okay.” Owen frowns, and he lets go of the seatbelt.

Cass turns just enough so she can look at him in the backseat. “You okay there? This is probably a lot to take in. It’s okay if you have questions.”

He shrugs, and thinks it over. “Why do we have to find the Ghoul?”

Cassandra visibly freezes, looking from Owen to Xiaolian and Roan in the backseat. She turns to James in the driver’s seat, who half-frowns.  “Because it’s hurting people, Owen,” he says.

“But if we go to it, it’s gonna hurt _us_ ,” Owen replies insistently.

“I won’t let it. The moment I think you guys are in danger, I will get you out of there.” James speaks determinedly, without looking at anyone in the car.

“But then _you’ll_ get hurt,” Owen protests. “We can just run away now and it’ll be okay.”

James sighs. “I can’t do that Owen. This is what I do. And I swear, I won’t get hurt.”

“No one will,” Cassandra agrees, firmly. “I won’t let any of you get hurt, either. Just… stay close. It will be alright.”

Owen squeezes Xiaolian’s hand nervously. “Okay.”

Xiaolian cups his cheeks and looks him in the eyes. “Owen, I’m not going to make you any promises. I don’t know if anyone is gonna get hurt. That’s kinda how life works, you just don’t know. But this is something important we have to do.”

“We’ve got to try and help,” Roan adds, nodding. “It’s hard but we’ve got to. We kinda know what to do. And we already stole the body so…”

James laughs at that, tension draining slightly from his body. “We’ve gone a little too far at this point to stop.”

They’re just past the edge of town now, heading down a dirt road that leads into the woods. The sky has cleared and the moon is bright – but suddenly, James’ attention is arrested by a streak of light which arcs from one side of the road to the other, through the trees, with no visible source. Brighter by far than the moon, it leaves him blinking the afterimages out of his eyes— and then the engine dies, and the car rolls to a stop.

“Uh, what the fuck is happening?” James looks down at the stalled car in confusion.

Xiaolian rubs her eyes. “Did the car stop?”

“Aliens!” Roan exclaims, “how did we forget the aliens?!”

“…Aliens??” Owen looks bewildered.

“I’m gonna be so pissed if the aliens killed Izzy,” James mutters as he tries to restart the engine.

“You named your car Izzy?” Xiaolian asks, incredulous.

“It’s short for Isabella,” he replies, testily.  The engine won’t even turn over. Not a click. None of the lights will turn on: even the radio’s dead.  He hits his head against the steering wheel. After a moment of mourning Izzy, he turns to the back seat. “I guess this is where we are luring out the ghoul.” He unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car.

“Who’s Isabella?” Owen says, in a panic, “and what are aliens??” He turns to Xiaolian for help.

“Izzy is apparently what James named his car. Aliens are people who don’t come from earth, they come from the sky,” Xiaolian replies, holding his hand.

Owen nods. He’s still confused about the car-naming. People _do_ that? He decides to leave it be. He unbuckles his seat belt, glad to have it off. “We should get out, right?”

Xiaolian nods and hops out of the car. She helps Owen out before she turns to James. “So what’s the plan dad?”

Cassandra checks her phone before stepping out, looking around her.  Alas, her phone is also dead. The last time she remembers seeing on the dashboard clock was something like 10.25 pm.  “Fuck. My phone’s dead too. Guess we’re doing this one way or another.”

James walks to the trunk of the car. He is caught off guard by Xiaolian calling him dad but decides to file that in ‘stuff to think about after getting the ghoul’. He pops open the trunk. “Not the best scenario for you guys’ first hunt, but this will do.”

Roan awkwardly follows everyone else out of the car, joining James at the trunk. They don’t really know what’s going on but, honestly?  Aliens are definitely an improvement on ghouls.

Cassandra walks to the trunk as well, keeping an eye on their surroundings. “You know how to do this, right?” she asks James. “How does one go about catching a ghoul?”

“Yeah, this isn’t my first rodeo. Help me take out our Doe here. I’ve got supplies behind them.” James hooks one arm around the body covered in a sheet.

Cassandra uses both hands to help him pull it out, grunting with the effort.  Roan steps forward, taking some of the weight of the body from Cassandra.  “Thanks,” Cass says. “Are we leaving it here?”

“Just leave it on the side of the car away from the road.” James walks to the side of the car and lays the corpse on the ground.

Roan winces as they put the body on the ground. “Sorry, Jane,” they whisper, dusting their hands off on their jeans.

The wind is beginning to pick up.  Also, now that the body’s been out of cold storage for, eh, twenty minutes, it’s starting to warm up. And, as a result, starting to smell.  For the record, the wind is blowing past them into the forest – they are all currently upwind of the body.

“Oh, Jesus.” Cassandra makes a face when she catches a whiff of it. “Yeah, it’s bound to work.”

 “Xiaolian, keep Owen upwind of our Doe. We wanna attract the bad ghoul, not Owen.” James walks back to the trunk of the car. He reaches into the trunk and hits a secret button: the top pops off and reveals a storage area. At least a dozen books line the back of the compartment and various bottles filled with weird substances sit in front of them, nestled into foam casing. James takes off his black trench coat and lays it on the roof of the car. He reaches into the compartment and pulls out a holster with a pistol and ammunition. He clips the holster into his belt, then reaches back in and pulls out a yard-long sword in its sheath. He slings it around his shoulder to rest on his back, the handle poking up past his shoulder. James reaches for his coat, putting it on and adjusting the collar to mostly hide the handle of the sword. He turns back to the group. “Who needs a weapon?”

“…Can I have a weapon?” Owen asks.

“Of course.” James pulls a short silver blade from his coat. He hands it to Owen. “That’s a blessed knife. I got it from a Christian mission in Arizona. Blessed by the mission and a local Native American tribe. It’ll keep you safe.” James smiles at Owen.

Owen nods, holding it tightly.

“I’m sorted.” Roan pulls up her jacket and top to reveal the .38 revolver in a holster on her belt. They reach into their jacket and pull out a big knife. “I also have a big knife.”

“Why—” Cassandra looks confused at Roan, then at James handing the knife to Owen. “You know what? Not gonna ask. But I’m fine, thank you.”

“Alright Owen, let’s go,” Xiaolian says.  Owen nods, ready to follow her wherever.

The wind is getting stronger. It’s rustling the leaves in the trees now – hard to hear if anything’s coming.

“How are we doing this? Should we walk away from it?” Cassandra asks, looking around, into the shadows, trying to see in the darkness.

“I have no idea. Owen? Any thoughts?” Roan asks.

“Well, I personally want to fight nowhere near Izzy,” James jumps in, “so if anyone is up for moving the body into the woods?”

Owen shrugs. “I dunno. I don’t know how it works…”

“That’s okay, Owen.” Roan smiles at him. “Moving it into the woods makes sense, Jamie.” Roan nods before muttering, “can’t wait to touch the gross dead body some more. Yay.”

Xiaolian pulls her sword out again. She’s tempted to call out Zhiqiang but she’ll wait until later.

“He’ll probably be able to smell people nearby,” Owen says nervously.

“Okay, so let’s move the body into the woods and stay within eyesight of it,” James says, nodding. “The ghoul will smell us long before it sees us.”

“Alright,” Cass goes for the body again, not wasting any time.  Roan and James step over to the body as well, lifting it up.  They walk the body past the tree line and put it down against the trunk of a tree.  As soon as they drop it to the ground again, Cass takes a few steps back, pointing over her shoulder. “Should we hide over there?”

Xiaolian grabs Owen’s hand and takes him upwind.  Soon, the Disaster Family has arranged themselves into a collection of hiding spots, just off the trail, in the tree line, more or less surrounding the dead body. Owen and Xiaolian are hiding behind a large tree, each peeking out from one side – Xiaolian’s sword is very dim, only an occasional lick of flame sliding up the blade, and Owen’s grip on the knife James gave him is white-knuckled. James is across from them, one hand on the hilt of his sword, also behind a tree. Roan is crouched behind a large rock on the wrong side to be upwind of Owen, knife in hand. Cassandra has climbed about six feet up into a tree to the west, and is nestled in the crook of two large limbs, keeping an eye out as best she can.

They all wait, keeping their breathing as steady as they can. Cassandra sees another streak of light, but it’s way off in the distance to the north; Xiaolian and Owen see one off to the east. The night is quiet, and the wind has been blowing steadily for about twenty minutes before Roan hears a twig snap in the forest in front of them, definitely a different sound than the rustling leaves that has accompanied their nocturnal vigil so far.

Well. It sure is dark out there.

A few more minutes pass, and Roan hears another twig snap – and then a … moan?

Roan freezes, gritting their teeth to ground themself. They grip their knife in their hand and carefully scan the area around, turning on the spot to find the source of the noise. They don’t want to alert the others for it to turn out to be an animal or some people…having fun. Their grip tightens as they turn, but they can’t see anything. It’s darker than they expected, and they find themselves blinking to try to get any light at all.

And then something grabs their foot.  It starts pulling. The grip is hard, but the movement is slow. As their vision adjusts, they see an emaciated person crawling along the ground – it has elongated, spindly fingers, no eyes that can be seen, and greyish-black skin. It has grabbed their ankle, and is pulling them towards itself.

Roan screams at the top of their lungs, fighting to get out the grip of the thing, attempting to swing their leg.

Xiaolian sucks in a breath. “Oh fuck.” She looks at her sword. “Zhiqiang, I need help.”

Zhiqiang flows out of the sword in a smooth beam of light and floats about five feet off the ground. He looks _pissed_. Somehow his eyebrows seem ten times bushier than usual.

Xiaolian chuckles nervously. “You seem kinda angry, buddy. But we’ll talk later, I kinda have a situation right now. A ghoul is trying to eat my friend. Friend? Friend…eh. I need you to cause a distraction.”

His eyebrows shoot up, and he grins menacingly.  Zhiqiang shoots across the circle – through the tree Xiaolian and Owen are standing behind, and directly to the ghoul. He gets right up in its face, swirling around it, flowing through it: Roan gets a face full of glowing arcane dragon, and the ghoul emits this low, long, screeching noise and lets go of Roan’s ankle.

Xiaolian wants to move, but Roan is an adult and she needs to stay with Owen. She stays right where she is: Zhiqiang is smart, he can get the job done.

The ghoul, overwhelmed by the amount of light and energy surrounding it, can still smell two incredibly tasty things directly in its path. It reaches out again, trying to grab what it found before.  It snatches at Roan’s ankle, but Roan rolls out of the way just in time.

Cassandra curses when she hears Roan scream – she can’t see them from where she is, so her immediate reaction, albeit stupid, is to come down from the tree as fast as she can. She runs up and a little to the side so she can see Roan – and _it_ – and when she sees them, she drops down to one knee and pulls out a black, long-ish knife from her right boot, throwing it towards the creature currently trying to grab Roan.

The knife hits the ghoul in the torso and sticks. The ghoul jerks in response, gives a low, guttural, raucous hiss, and looks over in the direction the knife came from.

“Remember! To kill it we need to cut its head off!” James shouts.  He runs to Roan, standing between them and the ghoul. He unsheathes his sword and swings at the ghoul’s neck. 

The ghoul is in the middle of moving when James swings, and so he misses its neck and hits just below its shoulder, cleaving its arm off. The arm, a sickly, mottled-grey limb that looks half-rotted already, hits the ground next to Roan with a wet-sounding smack, and the ghoul lurches forward, sinking its teeth into James’ calf.

Owen manages not to start crying, tightening the grip on the knife he was given, prepared to defend himself if the ghoul got closer to Xiaolian and him.

Roan gives a half scream as the ghoul’s arm lands next to them and then as the ghoul bites James. _Fuck fuck, I need to do something_ , they think. Roan doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing but they know that they have to try and do something. They throw out their arm out and shout one of the phrases from the demon book, hoping to hurt the ghoul.

It starts so subtly, Roan isn’t even sure anything happens. Dark fog creeps up around the boulder they were hiding behind, almost invisible in the shadows, but then they’re surrounded by rolling iron-gray and black clouds which flow along the forest floor towards the ghoul. As the ghoul is wrapped in the clouds, it squawks in pain – and then Roan does too, the feeling of acid burning across their skin. Then the fog disappears again.

Xiaolian curses when she hears James and Cass. It doesn’t sound like it’s going too well. She looks over at Owen before she decides. She closes her eyes and calls Zhiqiang back.  Zhiqiang swirls back to her in a heartbeat.  “Tell me what’s happening. Is anyone hurt?”

“Yes,” he rumbles, “Roan and James are both hurt.”

“Fuck. Okay, Owen, I need you to stay here. Zhiqiang’s gonna stay with you. But I need to go and make sure that James and Roan are okay.” Xiaolian turns towards the direction of James and Roan and starts running.

She makes it across the distance without any trouble, and sees the tail end of the black fog disappearing into the trees. She sees the ghoul, with its teeth in James’ leg, Roan on the ground nursing what looks like an acid burn on their arm— oh and the ghoul’s missing an arm, which is on the ground near Roan.

Xiaolian tightens her grip on her sword before she swings it at the ghoul’s head.

Unfortunately, instead of hitting the ghoul, it gets embedded in the ground. The ghoul changes tacks in response to this threat, using its grip on James to leverage itself up – then lurching towards Xiaolian, sinking its teeth into her arm.

“Oh, _fucking hell,_ ” Cassandra says as she watches the chaos unfold. The moment the thing bites into Xiaolian, she springs into action, running the distance left between her and the others. She rolls when she gets close enough, trying to get behind the monster so she can catch it in a headlock of sorts.  She pries the ghoul off Xiaolian, and even manages to time it so that the ghoul doesn’t take a huge chunk of Xiaolian with it.

James pushes Xiaolian away from the ghoul. He swings his sword to try and decapitate the ghoul again – alas, he slashes Cassandra’s arm instead of hitting the ghoul, and Cassandra drops the ghoul.

Owen lets out a distressed shout, seeing all his teammates hurt in rapid succession. He runs over to the ghoul, and momentarily forgetting he’d been given a weapon, sinks his teeth as close to the ghoul’s neck as he can.

Owen leaps, with surprising agility, at the ghoul: he wrenches it away from Cassandra, tackling it to the ground and sinking his teeth into its neck from behind, ripping viciously. The ghoul fights back, biting at Owen’s arms – it gets one good bite in before Owen, quite literally, _tears its head off_ with his teeth.

Several seconds pass. Everyone is breathing heavily, except the ghoul, which is twitching faintly on the ground in its death throes. Owen’s bleeding from the arm (and the mouth, though the blood looks…sludgy and black); James’s pant leg is soaking through with blood, as are Xiaolian’s and Cassandra’s shirtsleeves; Roan’s arm is sporting a nasty red burn mark.

But they’re alive, and it’s dead, and the whole thing was over in less than a minute.


	6. Night - II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clean-up time ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hover over italicised foreign language text for translations! (Mobile and tablet users, please see the ending notes.) These are not written by native speakers by any means, please forgive the inevitable terrible errors if you are a speaker!

“We’re still alive, _alhamdulillah_.” James sheathes his sword, limping as he adjusts his footing.

“But that was close,” Cass says, one hand pressing against the slash on her arm as she bends down to pick up the knife she had thrown at the thing. “We gotta make better plans than this, seriously.”

James looks over the carnage. “I’ve got some medical supplies in my car, come on.” James takes a few steps forward, wincing as he stepped on his injured leg.

“I can, uh, help.” Cass waits for the others, watching to see if anyone needs a hand.

Owen looks a little terrified of his own strength. He spits out a mouthful of ghoul out beside him, looking at James with wide eyes for support.

James reaches an arm out to Owen. “You did a great job, come here. We’ll go get patched up.”

Owen nods, and immediately goes to James, holding onto his arm, leaning against him. “…Is everybody okay?” He asks softly.

Xiaolian groans and leans back against a tree. _“Rúguǒ wǒ kàn dào wǒ de shǒubì, wǒ de dàgē jiù huì shēngqì.”_ She calls Zhiqiang to her to use as a support for getting up.  Zhiqiang swims over to her through the air, and nudges his head under her undamaged arm. He’s warm, and just barely tangible, but he’s very comforting. “Oh Zhiqiang, my Zhiqiang. The only one who truly loves me. I think I’ll marry you.” She starts laughing. She might be going into shock. Who knows.

That definitely sounds like shock. She isn’t bleeding _that_ badly, though, so it’s probably mostly emotional shock. … Probably. Hey, I’m a narrator, not a medic.  Zhiqiang chuckles softly, and nudges her towards James.

She boops his nose before heading over to James. “Hey, uh, it’s great that Owen killed the ghoul and all. But, um, what do we do with its body – and the people looking for the previously mentioned ghoul.”  Zhiqiang huffs slightly and does a little shake when she boops his nose, and then follows along behind her.

James looks down at the dead body. “Hmm, I would say leave it where they can find it, but random passers-by wouldn’t…” James thinks for a second, then lightly shakes his head. “That’s a Future Us problem. Right now, we need to tend to our wounds.” James puts an arm around Owen and the other around Xiaolian and walks to his car.

Xiaolian leans into his side, exhausted. “I want to sleep for the rest of my life.” She pokes Owen. “You okay buddy?”  Owen hesitates before nodding, smiling at her weakly.

James opens the backseat car door and sits both of them down. He pops open the trunk and grabs a normal first aid kit and a few bottles from his secret compartment.

Cassandra offers a hand to Roan so they can both get to the car as well. “I say we take the body with us. _Both_ bodies,” she glances over at Jane Doe. “And we should probably find the hunting group.”

Roan takes Cassandra’s hand, making sure to use her uninjured arm, using Cassandra to haul herself to her feet. “We definitely need to take both. We can’t leave Jane out here and who knows what the ghoul’s body will do to local wildlife.”

“We should just head back into town with the bodies,” Cass says, walking closer to James to peer into his kit. “Do you have some gauze? I can deal with Roan and I’s wounds.”

“Yeah.” James handed over some gauze. “Oh, and take this!” He opens one of the bottles and pulls out a few green herbs. “Chew these and put them on the wounds.” James pops a few leaves into his mouth and chews them before spitting them into his hand. He crouches next to Xiaolian, rolls up her sleeve and puts the chewed-up herbs on her bite wound, before wrapping it in gauze.  The herbs sting a little, and will help with time, but no great miracles of healing occur – it’s a nasty bite, the ghoul got her good.

James pulls up his pant leg and spreads the rest of the herb onto his bite wound and wraps it in gauze.   Better luck with this one: the bite is deep, but cleaner than the ragged edge on Xiaolian’s, and the herbs will help it along nicely. James can already feel the pain lessening.

Watching James’ movements, Cass looks down at the herbs he handed her. She hesitates but only for a second – she wouldn’t easily bite into something handed to her by a cloaked guy in the woods, but given that he has done it first, she concludes it’s probably fine. Chewing on it like James did, she gets closer to Roan, applying the paste to the burn on their arm and wrapping the gauze around it.  Roan feels the herb paste soothing the nasty burn on their arm – it immediately feels _much_ better.  Cass quickly does the same to her own wound, sitting in the passenger’s seat for that. She’s not as careful, but twice as quick applying the paste and wrapping the gauze.  She can also feel the pain relief kick in, though full healing is going to take a bit longer – getting sliced by a sword’s no joke, though it’s not quite the same as getting bitten by a ghoul. Who knows where those teeth have been?

James stands and walls over to Owen. He chews some more herbs and spreads them over Owen’s bite, wrapping it in gauze. “Now stay still Owen.” James takes a wet wipe from the first aid kit and wipes the black blood from Owen’s face.  Even though Owen’s bite is pretty nasty – since, you know, he and the ghoul were basically wrestling at the time – James manages to carefully pack the herbs in, and Owen feels a lovely painless warmth spreading through his arm. Also, as luck would have it, he managed not to swallow any of the weird ghoul blood, which is probably a good thing.

Owen leans into James, smiling softly. “Thank you,” he murmurs, closing his eyes while James cleans him.

James smiles and pats Owen’s shoulder. He steps back. “So, uh, two dead bodies. I would say to leave them where the town’s hunters can find them. Any ideas where that would be?”

Cassandra shrugs, but then winces a bit when it pulls on her wounded arm. “I still think we should get Jane Doe back… What if anything gets to her before the hunting group?”

“Sorry for cutting you, Cassandra,” James says, “it was an accident. And yeah, that’s a good point. I don’t want her body disrespected more than it already has been.”

“Hey, battle scars. I can deal with those,” Cass says with a smile. “Xiaolian, you know Banjo McClintock, right? Do you think he’d be willing to help? With the body, I mean.”

Xiaolian thinks about it for a second and then nods. “Yeah, Banjo would help. But what are we going to tell him?”

Roan leans against James’ car.  They can feel the adrenaline leaving their body and exhaustion setting in. “Is Banjo the dude that fed Owen? Cause then I’d just suggest telling the truth. ‘Hey, we killed the evil ghoul, please take the body’.”

Owen nods. “Yeah, that’s Banjo. He’s really nice, he’ll help us.”

James shrugs. “That sounds good. Who can help me drag the bodies into the trunk again?”

Roan steps forward from the car, shaking energy into their limbs. “I’m the least injured, I’ll help.”

They load the bodies into James’ trunk. Jane Doe is grisly and unpleasant, but the ghoul is downright horrible: the black sludge oozes out of its stumps, and its papery-leathery skin has patches that almost feel like moss. It has a sparse few strands of hair on its scalp, which are long and black. James is definitely going to want to deep-clean the inside of the trunk after this.

Surprisingly, the car starts without an issue: the engine revs to life, and the ride back to Willow River is quiet, as all five are exhausted and shaken. It’s around eleven-thirty when they pull up beside Banjo’s general store: it’s dark, like all the other buildings in town (except the Sidekick, down the road).

“I am starving,” Xiaolian says. “We should get food after this.”

“Oh, I definitely second that,” Roan agrees.

“I don’t know if I can eat. All that gross stuff in Izzy.” James shuddered.

“Well then, Roan and I will eat and you won’t,” Xiaolian says, matter-of-factly.

“I’ll eat your portion, Jamie, don’t worry,” Xiaolian says with a grin.

“Wow, I’m so glad you all have my wellbeing in heart.” James deadpans. “Now, where is this… Banjo dude? The sooner we find him, the sooner you guys can have some chicken.”

“Some of us can wait in the back while the others get something to eat. Maybe the Sidekick is still open,” Cass suggests. “I can wait.”

As they’re discussing, a beat-up old red pickup truck, more rust than paint, with a couple of long cracks in the windshield, drives up beside them. It parks and turns off, the engine stuttering to a halt, and the headlights die. The driver’s side door opens, and out steps Banjo – sporting salt and pepper stubble, deep bags under his eyes, and dusty jeans and a dark green flannel button-up, with heavy hiking boots.  He pauses, looking at the group of them, and raises an eyebrow. “Evening, folks.”

James quirks an eyebrow at him. “You Banjo?”

Xiaolian leans over James’ shoulder. “Banjo!”

“Mr McClintock,” Cassandra says, getting ahead of the group to greet him. “We were waiting for you. Is this a good time?”

He looks at them for a moment, suspicion heavily evident on his very tired face. “It’s eleven-thirty-seven pm, but alright, I’ll humour you. What are you lookin’ for old Banjo for at near on midnight?”

James nods his head over to his car. “Special delivery in the trunk. Didn’t know where else to take it.” He walks over and pops the trunk, opening it just enough to let Banjo see the bodies inside. “We stole one, sorry about that by the way. Owen managed to deal with the second one.”

Owen gives Banjo a proud smile, waving.

Banjo follows James over and looks in the trunk – then he breathes out a long sigh and rubs his hand over his face.  “…Well, then,” he says, finally, after a long moment. “I’ll grab a tarp.”

“Thank you. We’re really sorry about the stolen body. James over here,” she indicates James with her head, “said our best shot was getting its attention with a dead body. And you already know Owen.  We thought we should try to help the town.”

Banjo goes back to his truck, opens the cab, and pulls out a big orange tarp, bringing it over to James’ car. He glances up at Cassandra. “Yep,” he says, shortly, “smart plan.” He lays the tarp out and motions to James. “Help me get the ghoul out. We’ll wrap it up in this and I’ll take care of it. Ms Doe I’ll take myself.”

James helps get the ghoul’s body out of the car. He spends the whole time muttering under his breath about the mess it made of his trunk. 

Banjo rolls the tarp up and folds the ends over. “Ghoul’s not too nasty to get out if it’s fresh. Peroxide and baking soda oughta do it. Shampoo if it sticks.” He looks at the body of the girl and sighs again, then carefully, almost lovingly, lifts her out by himself.

“Sorry again, about her. You’ll make sure she gets a proper burial?” James is kinda quiet when he says this, speaking only to Banjo.

He side-eyes James. “Of course.” He pauses, then bows his head slightly. “Two of you bring the ghoul in behind me.” He heads for the back door.  James grabs hold of the tarp.  Cassandra steps in to help, holding the other end of it, and Banjo leads them into the back of the building, into his residence proper. “Put the ghoul on the floor, I’ll deal with it later.” He leaves them there to do so, and goes down a set of stairs behind a door.

After a moment, he returns without the body of the woman, and ushers them out.  He locks the door behind him, and follows them back around to the front. He stands opposite them all, crosses his arms, and looks at them. “Thank you for your help. It’s appreciated.”

“Just doing my job,” James says.

“Yeah, well,” Cass glances at James then back at Banjo. “Just wanted to help, really. Is the hunting group back, then?”

He looks at them levelly, seeming to consider his words carefully. “Yes.”

Cassandra watches him. “They knew what they were looking for. Didn’t they?”

Banjo’s eyes twinkle, the first hint of his usual levity in tonight’s dour exhaustion. “They always know what they’re looking for… In this case, whatever attacked that poor girl.”

Cass just nods, acknowledging his answer and meeting his eyes. If she thought he knew more than he was letting on, now she was absolutely certain of it. “Well, thank you again for your help, Mr McClintock.” She smiles and clears her throat, looking at the others, “James, I think we should drive Xiaolian and Owen back… Roan, do you need a lift as well?”

“Yeah, I can take them home. But we should probably meet up tomorrow morning. To change bandages and stuff.” James is tired. It feels like this last day has lasted for a month.

Banjo’s phone rings, in the cab of his truck. He goes over, opens the door, and answers it. “Hello? … Hi, Adam. … Is that Andrew in the background? Yes? Tell him he can cool it. Boy hasn’t left.” He glances over and pins Owen with his gaze. “He happens to be standing in front of me. No, I don’t think he was taking off. He’s been…out this evening. With Xiaolian. …Mm hmm. Yeah. I’ll send him home. … No, tell Andrew I can’t take him myself, I’m otherwise preoccupied. But I think he’ll come home no problems. Looks tired, your boy does. Been quite a night for him, I think. … Mm hmm. Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, Adam. Thanks. Uh huh. Bye.” He hits End on the call, and cracks his neck. “You better get home, young Owen. They’re worried about you.”

When he hears Adam’s name, Owen perks up, looking over and listening, feeling a little guilty hearing the conversation. He nods when Banjo tells him to go home. “I didn’t mean to make anybody worried,” he says, frowning.

“Mm hmm,” Banjo says, “I don’t doubt it, kiddo. You’re not used to havin’ folks lookin’ out for you, I bet. Plus everyone’s been a little…on edge the last couple of days.” He runs his hand through his hair. He still looks utterly exhausted and unhappy. “They just didn’t want anything worse to happen to you, that’s all.”

James looks over to Xiaolian, about to ask her if she’s ready to go. Xiaolian has fallen asleep from where she was sitting on the porch and leaning against the wall of the store.  He smiles a little and walks over to her. He lightly shakes her shoulder. “Come on Xiaolian, let’s get you home.”

“Xiaolian,” Banjo calls. “I imagine you’ll want to be home before your brother. I think he’s still at the Sidekick, so if you hurry, you’ll make it.”

Xiaolian blinks slowly. It takes a couple of seconds before she can process Banjo’s words. “O-okay.” She stumbles to her feet a little and leans into James’s side already starting to feel her eyes droop again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations:  
> "alhamdulillah" [thank God]  
> "Rúguǒ wǒ kàn dào wǒ de shǒubì, wǒ de dàgē jiù huì shēngqì.” [My brother is going to be pissed if he sees my arm.]


	7. Night - III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wrapping up loose ends - adoptive dads worry about their new kid, Andrew freaks out, and Xiaolian has a vision.

Several minutes later, Xiaolian has let herself into her blessedly quiet house and flopped onto her bed, asleep before she hits the mattress, and Owen is standing in front of the front door of the well-lit Spirit of the Lake, as James, Cassandra, and Roan drive off towards the RV park.

Andrew is standing in the doorway, leaning against it. He looks tired – not as tired as Banjo did, but tired. There’s a streak of dirt on his jaw, which also has far more stubble than it usually does, and his hair is messy. His clothes are creased, as if he’s worn them a couple days in a row, and one cuff is rolled back past the elbow. There’s something white wrapped around the exposed forearm. Adam is standing behind him, just visible in the entryway. He doesn’t look quite as tired as Andrew does, but it’s hard to tell.

Andrew motions to the bandage on Owen’s arm. “Banjo said you were out with Xiaolian this evening. Did Bolin not take too kindly to you, or is that _her_ doing?”

“I don’t think he really liked me, but uh. No.” He hesitates, before admitting, “…It was the ghoul. But I got it! It’s dead now! And I made a bunch of friends.”

Andrew blinks. “…The ghoul.”

Adam steps forward approximately six inches and puts a hand on Andrew’s shoulder.

“The one who killed the lady in the woods,” Owen explains. “We got it.”

Adam’s hand tightens on Andrew’s shoulder.  And it’s Adam who speaks next, actually: Andrew seems not to be able to open his mouth. “Who’s ‘we’, Owen?”

“Me… Xiaolian… And some other people we met. James, Roan, and Cassandra.”

Adam slowly pulls Andrew into the house, guiding him with his hand: Andrew seems to have blue-screened. As Adam takes Andrew’s place in the doorway, he beckons Owen up the steps into the house. “Are you okay?”

Owen nods, coming towards Adam. “Yeah, James fixed my arm.” He says, “And I was the one who killed the ghoul!”

Owen sees Andrew twitch rather violently; Adam stills him, and brings them both into the house. Owen sees that Steven is standing just inside – for how long, who knows. But it is Steven who closes and locks the door, and Steven who brings a tray of tea and scones into the living room, which is where Adam has steered Andrew and Owen.

“You killed a ghoul?” Adam says, sitting Andrew down on the couch, then sitting next to him. “That sounds like … a pretty harrowing night. Was everyone else okay?”

“All of us got hurt, but we’re all okay now.” Owen nods, also sitting. “We had to get a body to get him out, but then he came to us real quick.”

There’s a long pause.

Steven pours tea.

Finally, after Steven clears his throat awkwardly and Adam glances at him, Adam says, “You had to … get a body. I don’t quite follow.”

“It was an already dead one, we had to go into some building to get it? James said it was against the rules, but we did a good thing so I think it’s okay? Banjo wasn’t mad,” Owen explains.

Andrew, who has been watching Owen the whole time, twitches again; Adam puts a hand on top of Andrew’s, which is lying on his knee. “Okay.” He thinks for a moment, then speaks again. “Owen, what you and the others did was very dangerous. You know that, right?”

Owen nods. “Yeah, but it ended up okay!”

Adam grips Andrew’s hand before he can twitch again. “And we’re very grateful for that. But we need you to understand, Owen: going after things like that is _very_ dangerous, even for people who have done it for a very long time.” Steven puts his teacup down with no small force; it clinks loudly, and Adam looks over at him and sighs a little. “Did Bolin know what was going on? Steven said that he’d left you to hang out with Xiaolian this afternoon.”

Owen shrugs. “I dunno, I didn’t really talk to him. He was kind of scary.”

Adam smiles, just a little. “Okay.” He shifts forward on the couch a little, one hand still on Andrew’s. “Are you sure you’re okay? What happened to your arm?”

“I got bit.” Owen explains. “But it’s okay, James put some green stuff on it and it felt better.”

“Alright,” Adam says. “Thank you for telling us this, Owen. We’re glad you trust us. We were very worried when we got home and you weren’t here. Steven was looking for you. We’re very glad you’re okay.”

Andrew _finally_ speaks, his voice sounding like it’s not been used in months, not minutes. “Please… talk to us first next time.”

Owen looks down at his lap, frowning, feeling guilty for worrying them. “Okay… I’m sorry,” he says softly. “I didn’t mean to make you worried.”

Steven gets up and comes over to him, sitting down next to him, offering him his hand. “We know you didn’t. This is just as new to you as it is to us. We get that. We’re not angry.”

Adam smiles at him. “It’s done now. I bet you’re tired.” He yawns. “I know I am. It’s been a rough couple of days.”

Owen immediately takes the hand offered to him, leaning against Steven. He nods. “Yeah… I _am_ tired…”

Steven holds his hand for a second, leans his head on top of Owen’s, then pulls gently. “C’mon buddy. Let’s get you up to bed.”  Owen nods, leaning on Steven again once they’re standing.

Steven brings him upstairs. As they’re climbing the steps to the third floor, Owen can hear Adam and Andrew talking in hushed tones – just soft enough that he can’t hear what they’re saying. A minute or two later, Steven has bid him goodnight, and promised pancakes in the morning— until he realizes that makes no difference to Owen, and Steven smiles sheepishly and wishes him sweet dreams, and to come wake them up if he needs anything.

Back downstairs, the conversation has risen in tone. Thank God for insulation and multi-floored buildings.

“That was _incredibly_ dangerous!” exclaims Andrew.

“He had no way of knowing,” replies Adam. “He’s lived on his own in the woods for how long? At least a decade—”

“Probably more,” Steven adds, entering the room. “I think he’s in his late teens at least.”

“ _Regardless_ ,” Andrew continues, forcefully, “this is insane! What possessed him to _go hunt down the ghoul?_ How did he even find out about it? What the hell is going on?”

Steven sinks down into an armchair and picks up his tea again. “I don’t think he had much to do with it,” he says, staring into the cup. “Based on how he’s been acting, and how he described it, he literally has no idea that this isn’t normal. Someone else led that escapade.”

The three men lapse into silence for a moment, each thinking. Andrew speaks up first, getting up and beginning to pace the room. “It wasn’t Xiaolian. And I bet you a thousand dollars Bolin has no idea what happened tonight.”

Adam shakes his head. “No one would bet against that.”

“Fuck.” Andrew sinks into another chair and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Do we tell him?”

There’s another brief silence, then Andrew slumps back into the chair and looks across the room at Adam and Steven. “Well?” he asks.

Steven bites his lower lip, swirling the tea in his cup, which is now tepid at best. “I don’t know. I don’t. The last seventy-two hours have thrown everything into chaos.” He drains the tea and sets the cup down, with its saucer, on the coffee table. “She _is_ an adult now. At the very least, I don’t like the idea of going behind her back to tell him.”

Adam nods, slowly. “I would agree with that. I think he _should_ know, but I’d like to talk to her first. Ideally, I think that’s a conversation they should have themselves.”

Andrew presses his hands into his eyes again and groans. “What about these other people Owen mentioned? Roan, Cassandra, and James?”

“All new in town,” Steven says. “They’ve all been in and out of the café. Cassandra’s the redheaded sociologist from UBC, she showed up in December and is back again now, she’s staying at the RV park. Roan’s the one with the turquoise hair; I think they’re a college student. Not talkative. And James – he only just showed up recently. Dark-skinned dude, trenchcoat. Didn’t leave the best of impressions on Cecilia.”

Adam taps his fingers on his knee. “Not exactly a team I’d assemble to take down an archghoul.”  Andrew grunts assent.

“But they killed it,” Steven says. “And then brought the body to Banjo.”

“And stole the Jane Doe from the morgue, sounds like,” Andrew added.  “At least one person in that group is hiding something,” he continued. “There’s no way this makes sense otherwise. And it’s awfully convenient,” he says, suddenly forceful again, sitting forward in his chair, “that they show up right when this all happens. Everything goes to hell Friday night, and then _poof!_ Here’s your dead ghoul, nice as you like, never mind what you had to go through in the past day.”

“Andrew,” Adam says, softly.

“No!” Andrew says sharply, cutting him off. “No! This is too perfect. This is _too_ perfect. There was no reason we shouldn’t have been able to take that thing down ourselves. _No_ reason. You, me, and Shane— that should have been a _walk in the park_. Something’s not _right_.”

“A lot of things aren’t right,” Adam murmurs, still in that soft tone. “We know that. That’s why we—”

“That’s what I’m _saying_ , Adam, it’s _too perfect._ ” Andrew gets up again, full of nervous energy, and begins pacing. “I want to see that body. I want to know how they killed it, how they got Owen to kill it. If that boy is really the next closest thing to a feral child, and he just happened to kill an archghoul when we three— when we— something’s not right. These people aren’t who they say they are. I don’t trust them. Not with what happened last night. Not with what happened to— to—” His voice catches, and he brings his hands to the sides of his head, angrily pressing them against his ears.

Steven is up in a flash, crossing the space between them in two strides, and his arms are around Andrew instantly. The pair crumple to the floor slowly, Steven supporting Andrew’s weight and stroking his hair, his back, his shoulders. Andrew is stock-still, eyes screwed shut, hands flat against his skull, but he lets Steven bring him to his knees.

“Shhhh,” Steven says, whispering into Andrew’s ear. “Shh, Drew, it’s okay. It’s okay. Everyone’s gonna be okay.”

“You don’t— _know that_ —” Andrew chokes out, anguished.

“No, I don’t,” Steven murmurs, “but how often have I been wrong?”

Andrew doesn’t say anything, but his hands loosen from his ears, and Steven guides them down to his sides. “It’s gonna be okay,” he says, rocking Andrew back and forth. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll talk to Banjo tomorrow. And I bet you we can get some useful information out of Domhnall when he’s in on Monday. Don’t worry.”

Andrew laughs, a single dark sound wrenched from deep inside himself. “Oh God, Steven— Steven that’s all I’m fucking _good_ for—”

“Hush,” Steven says, cutting him off. “Don’t you give me that.”

“Steven, _Steven_ , what if that’s why they’re _here?”_

Adam huffs, shakes his head, and gets up off the couch. He kneels behind Andrew, and puts his hands on his shoulders.

Steven pulls back from Andrew, who twitches and makes as if to pull him back, but Adam holds him tight and Steven takes Andrew’s hands in his own, looking at him straight. “Andrew.”

Andrew grips Steven’s hands, but says nothing.

“This isn’t about you. This isn’t about you, or you wouldn’t be here. You’re panicking.” Steven leans in slightly. “I know you’re scared and I know you’re angry. I am too. So is Adam.” Adam nods.

“You’re still safe,” Adam says, rubbing Andrew’s shoulders gently. “I promise you that.”

Steven lets go of one of Andrew’s hands, and instead cups Andrew’s face, stroking his cheekbone with his thumb. “You’re safe, Drew,” he says softly. “We’re in a pile of shit, but you’re safe. We’ll get through this. We always do. And we need you at top capacity, buddy-o, if we’re gonna get through this. So breathe for me, and come back to me, Drew.”

Andrew lifts his free hand to put it over Steven’s again. “They’ve never done this before. It’s new. I don’t like new. New’s not safe. New’s dangerous. New’s—” His voice cracks again. “New’s _his_ job.”

Steven leans forward and touches his forehead to Andrew’s. “I know. …I know.”

* * *

Slightly across town, Xiaolian is dreaming.

The dream is cold. Cold stone, paths hewn from rock— no. Too smooth, too even. Concrete. Smooth, featureless concrete, an endless hallway.

Xiaolian hears heels, clicking on the cold concrete, a smooth gait for a smooth hallway. They’re confident. They’re uninterrupted. They’re uninterrupta _ble_ : a ticking metronome in an infinite hallway.

But everything ends.

The hallway ends.

The heels stop.

There’s a door.

There are hundreds of doors, actually: hundreds of cold steel doors along an infinite concrete hallway, the distance between measured in the ticking seconds of high heels clicking on a cold stone floor.

This door is the right door. She knows it because the number is the right number.

But Xiaolian can’t read the number, because this is a dream.

The door has a lock on it. Several locks, in fact. A keypad, a retinal scanner, a deadbolt, a fingerprint reader.

The door has a window, a small round porthole of triple-reinforced glass, but it’s too dark inside to see through.  Instead, there is a flash of golden curls, a pale face, red lipstick, as the metronome that just walked down the hall turns to open the door.

An eye is scanned, a fingerprint read, a key turned in a lock, and a code entered. Xiaolian can’t read the code: this is a dream.

The door opens soundlessly: barlines are silent. You only hear what’s in between.

“Ready to talk?”

The voice is soft, sweet, kind; the voice is untrustworthy, insincere, cruel.

“You wish.”

The voice is flinty, angry, rough; the voice is quiet, anguished, pained.

Three heel clicks. The door shuts, and locks.

A light turns on.

Two more heel clicks.

The slight scrape of a chair against concrete.

There are two people in this room: a man and a woman. Let’s start with the woman, shall we?

She has long legs; she’s wearing heels. They’re pretty: they’re bright red. She has one ankle crossed over the other; her toenails are painted black. She’s wearing black pants, very attractively cut, and a matching black blazer, perfectly tailored. The collar of a white dress shirt sits atop the lapels of the blazer, and a simple crystalline pendant catches the light behind it, nestled against her smooth pale skin. A silver watch sits on her wrist, and she has simple silver rings on several fingers; her fingernails are also painted black. Her hair, gold like wheat fields in summer, is curled, and falls just to her ear, where crystal teardrops hang. Xiaolian can’t see her eyes: this is a dream. But you _can_ see her lipstick, which is bright red and painted in a perfect cupid’s bow. Her teeth shine like pearls. She’s smiling. It’s genuine, but it isn’t kind.

She looks like she has all the time in the world. This is her coffee break; this is how she likes to spend her free time.

Now the man.

The man is in rough shape. He’s bloodied and beaten, bruises up and down his arms and face, and along his ribs too, though those can’t be seen under his shirt – but Xiaolian knows, because this is a dream, that he’s breathing shallowly, moving gingerly – not that he can move much at all.  He’s lashed to the chair, tied tightly with steel cords around his chest (which really isn’t helping with the breathing), ankles, thighs, elbows, and wrists.  He’s not going anywhere, especially since this chair, unlike the woman’s, is quite firmly bolted to the floor. Not that Xiaolian can tell, because this is a dream, but those screws run deep. Half a dozen inches, at least.

He’s lost his shoes at some point: his bare feet, also spattered with blood – probably his own – are sitting on the cold concrete floor.  His jeans, which are ripped in several places but dark brown and red in more, chafe his ankles under the steel cord. Not a pair he’ll be keeping, if he’s honest. Too many memories, at this point.  His shirt barely exists anymore, really. At least, the back of it doesn’t, which has been ripped to shreds: the front is more or less intact, if rather soaked through with blood. The chair is very cold against his back, though, and especially uncomfortable against the burning lines cross-hatched across bare skin.

“You’re wasting your time.”

Oh, he’s interrupting. How rude.

“Mm,” she says, “I beg to differ. _You_ were the one who so kindly informed us that—”

——

A different time. A different place. Cold concrete heated by gunfire and flashes of swordplay. It’s loud: no metronome here. No barlines, no order. Chaos.

A door slams open, a voice bellows: _“I’m the one you want!”_

The gunfire ceases.

——

Back in the room, the cold and silent room.

Are we finished, then? May I continue?

Yes?

Thank you.

The man’s hair is matted and tangled, blood still oozing from at least one wound. It’s dripping into his eyes, actually, very slowly. Of course, he can hardly move his hands to wipe them.  The woman leans forward, pulls a handkerchief out of her pocket, and dabs at the man’s face gently, soaking up some of the blood. It hurts: there are bruises and lacerations on his face, too, and no matter how gentle she is the soft linen still pulls at the two days’ worth of stubble growing in amongst the cuts.

“You know, we could get you cleaned up.”

 _God_. Interrupting _again_. I’ll never finish describing him at this rate.

He spits in her face, blood and saliva spraying across her perfect lipstick. You can only see the blood in the specks on her cheek. 

She turns the handkerchief on herself. “Have it your way.”

He stares her down, wide-set eyes level even though their sockets are blackened with swelling and blood. He licks his lips, which are dry and cracked, and bleeding, too. He’s made of blood, this man: blood, and sweat, and tears.

“You can’t kill me,” he rasps, the tiniest hint of levity in his tone. “Then you’ll lose.”

She smiles benevolently. “Oh, but that just means I can have so much fun.”  She pulls her chair closer, and reaches out, tracing his sharp jaw, his eyebrows, the long, wide curve of the bridge of his nose. “Such fun.” She cups his face in her hands. “You’re the one that I want, alright, big guy,” she murmurs with a smirk. “So much to learn from you.” She stands, leans down, kisses his forehead, and then turns on her heel. She opens the door, closes it, and he can hear the locks clicking back into place as her metronome walks away.

A moment later, the light shuts off, leaving the gangly, broken man strapped to the chair, alone in the pitch darkness.  He begins to cry, silently, the tears etching their way through the blood on his face.

A few words, in the black, before Xiaolian wakes up, the voice gravelly with tears and pain:

“Better me than you, little guy.”

* * *

Xiaolian wakes up, eyes sandy, heart pounding. The dream was so vivid – so detailed – so…so…what did she dream about, again? It was terrifying, and she dreamed about…about someone…someone she cares about…was it Bolin? Her parents? No…

She’s exhausted. Her eyelids, heavy as lead, pull shut.  She’ll figure it out in the morning. She’s just tired and stressed, of course she’s having nightmares.

She hums the lullaby Shane sang to her as she falls asleep again.


End file.
